Protecting the Rights of Consumers For Over 25 Years

Question: What’s my next step if I got served for a hospital bill that I settled before by giving them the Medicaid card number?

I am being sued about a hospital bill that was not paid for. The bill is for my daughter, who at the time did not have insurance because I applied for Medicaid and it was still in the process of being approved. I got a bill once and called the number to give them the Medicaid card number since they go retro three months. That was the last I’ve heard about this bill until now. Now that I got served with court papers, I need to know what I should do next. If it’s the bill that needs to be paid for, then I can do that. It’s just that I haven’t heard or received anything before that.

Answer: If your daughter had Medicaid and the hospital was informed of that fact, you should not be liable for any amounts which Medicaid would have paid. You do need to defend the lawsuit, or a default judgment will be entered against you. In addition, if the debt collector knows that your daughter had Medicaid and continues to pursue the lawsuit, it will violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Our attorneys have a total of more than 100 years experience handling consumer lawsuits, including both lawsuits by consumers and lawsuits against consumers. One of them wrote the book on defending collection lawsuits. D. Edelman et al., Collection Litigation: Representing the Debtor (Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education 2008, 2011, 2014, 2019, 2022 editions), as well as the chapters in Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education publications on the Truth in Lending Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and mortgage-related claims.

We offer free consultations. If you have a foreclosure or debt collection problem, please send whatever letters, court papers, or other documents relate to your problem and we will review without charge. If we conclude that we can be of assistance to you, we charge modest fees for defending foreclosure and collection lawsuits. We take most affirmative cases on a contingency.