Death by a thousand cuts ...

... MY term for the billing practices of major hospitals.

Yesterday (Thursday, 06 AUG 2015), I made my third (and hopefully FINAL) follow-up visit to Ben Taub hospital, concerning the broken ankle and lower tibia I suffered in my accident of 23 MAY 2015, and which I wrote about in numerous previous posts going back to Sometimes, life just sucks ...

They want me to continue wearing this special boot for another week, but don't feel another visit will be required, as the bones appear to be healing just fine.

So, the major crisis in front of me is the billing system summed up by the title of this post.

When I had my broken arm accident  in late July of 2013, there were ultimately over half a dozen different accounts to deal with, as each department in the hospitals (TWO hospitals were involved in that accident recovery) and the various physicians ALL had their own  accounting services.

It took over two months after the initial invoice arrived before I had a fairly complete picture of the whole mess. Approximately $6000.00 in all.

The ONLY way I could deal with it was to make a (VERY) small payment to each every month.

This continued until the 23 MAY accident, at which point I stopped paying, as the paychecks ceased for about six weeks until I began working again.

I have NOT resumed those payments, as I was looking at a whole NEW nightmare from Ben Taub
to come.

THIS prospect had me looking at Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, and I was looking at going in for a free consultation with a bankruptcy lawyer, to see (among other things) if I needed to wait until ALL the parties involved with Ben Taub had sent invoices, and the whole picture was clear, before filing.

But then, a circumstance involving me possibly owning a small part of rural property belonging to my late mother made it look as if a small sum might come my way and make it possible to get my car running again.

As that possible ownership would complicate the Hell out of the bankruptcy (and the bankruptcy could have an effect on the property), I temporarily took the bankruptcy off the table.

But, I've heard nothing more, and frankly doubt it's gonna happen,  So, in a few weeks I'll go in for that consultation.

This is NOT something I'm keen to do; I went through a Chapter 7 in 2000, and the paperwork is absolutely HORRIFIC. (To paraphrase a classic Jack Benny routine: "The PAPERWORK, or your LIFE!"  Reply: "I'M THINKING." )

But, I HAVE to consider this.  The financial situation threatens to absolutely DESTROY me.

There's a REASON I still have the PayPal donation button near the top left of my page.

If you feel like helping, God Bless You,.

And, Thank You.
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