Medical care in the United States is prohibitively expensive for many people. Even simple procedures are outside of their price range. Something significant, like emergency surgery, could put them so far in debt that they will never be able to pay it off.
For many people, the way to get around this is to purchase a health insurance policy. They believe that having insurance means they will not face overwhelming medical debt, reducing their chances of having to file for bankruptcy. This can be true in some cases, but it is not necessarily always true.
Were the services in-network?
For instance, one complication that can arise is that only certain hospitals are in the insurance company’s network. So they will approve healthcare at these hospitals and cover the cost of treatment. But if someone gets the same treatment from an out-of-network hospital, the insurance company will refuse to cover it, leaving the policyholder with an incredible amount of debt – even though they were paying for insurance every month.
This can often cause problems if there is an emergency. Say that someone’s child needs emergency surgery while they are on vacation in another state. They do not have time to research the hospitals or find out what services are in their network. They just take their child to the nearest hospital to get the care that they need.
This is just one example of how someone who has insurance could still find themselves facing overwhelming medical debt. Those who are in this position need to know what legal options they have, including filing for bankruptcy.