I need to vent.....

[Xolodno]

Ok,

My father passed away last year of Cancer. We managed to get "Medi-Cal" for him so that all the medical bills would get paid. My sister was supposed to handle all that......Apparently she didn't. She didn't bother to give all the doctors/hospitals the case number or any information. So it all went to collections and NOW she decides to get on the ball (and not once informed me she didn't do shit)...of course they are asking for his Medi-Cal ID card number, she says she never got it in the mail...you would think she would have got on the phone when it didn't appear. Of course, she called "Medi-Cal" and they said they no longer have the records. Now she gets on he phone calling me about "what to do" as all she is getting is an endless sea of phone numbers. I just wanted to yell and endless tirade of obscenities for her laziness. She hasn't been working and living off my mom's social security and inheritance. But, I managed to stay calm and hold my composure....and told her she would have to make all the phone calls.

If I had known she was sitting on her ass I would have handled the matter myself, despite everything else. Which is why she agreed to handle it in the first place.

[auntAgonist]

1. Sorry you're going through this. In family matters I really think

that siblings should if at all possible work together to make sure medical bills and needs are all looked after.
I'm sure you're upset with her, but please be kind. It's easy to get mad after the fact. It would have been better (I don't know the circumstances I admit) had you been involved from the get go with this.

I hope it all works out ok.

I am sorry for your family's loss. My Mother also passed away, colon cancer 12 years ago.

aA
kesha

[midnight]

2. Sorry to hear about this after your fathers death. You have enough on your plate.

Another reason to have our health care delivery system more stream lined..... Too much paper work.....

[Ineeda]

3. Don't let her off the hook.

I've often found that people deliberately screw up so someone else takes over a complicated or cumbersome job. She should pay the price for #1, agreeing to do the job and #2, not doing it. (My condolences about your Dad.) :hug:

[gleaner]

4. If I can make a suggestion .....

Maybe you could call the hospital where your Dad was a patient and ask to speak to the financial aid office. Explain what happened and why it has been so long without follow up and ask if they or the Case Workers at the hospital can help you. They may be able to get the Medical faster than your sister or help you to get it so that you can have some peace of mind.

Last year my husband nearly died of MRSA. His private insurance kept refusing to pay for his room and repeatedly tried to deny benefits. The head Case Worker at the hospital appealed every time and made them reverse every decision. He got out of it alive, but with a great deal of damage to many of his organs. The hospital helped us get the hospital bed and the bi pap he needs to help him breathe at night and other DME the insurance company tried to refuse us.

We are still inundated with unpaid bills which we have no way of ever paying. We are retired and our house lost so much value we no longer have any equity at all. They call it being "upside down," so we can't use that as we had planned. Basically I changed the phone number and wrote each collection agency that contacts us that we are to be contacted only by mail under the provisions of the Fair Debt Collections Act. They can ruin our credit or do what they have to do. We have to buy food and medicine and pay the mortgage on our "upside down" house. After the utility and other living expenses there is literally nothing. This should not be happening. Not to you or me or anyone. Good luck and I hope this will help in some way. Oh, and write your congressmen and senators they need to hear from you.

[CountAllVotes]

5. I am truly sorry to read of your loss

:(

Mine are both gone now too and I dealt with most of it.

My advice: Get a lawyer - one that handles estates and wills ASAP.

You have legal issues going on here, I can guarantee that much. Do it now before it gets even bigger than it already is.

Again, my condolences.

:dem:

[Xolodno]

6. She finally got through to someone....

...and they told her that she needed to get an MC 180, of course she's trying to shift this back to me claiming I had all the bills (when we both had gotten them).

Then she asked what would happen if just ignored it (once again I could see she was trying to shirk doing anything). So I informed her that:

1. They could go after the remaining inheritance from our grandmother. She replied "but its in our names!". I replied yes it is, as of last year, but it was in her name before that....and they go back 5 years.

2. They could go after any monies in my mom's bank account that is not social security.

Since this impacts my sister's current livelihood, she then freaked out and realized she had a problem. So now tomorrow she's going to obtain the forms and get this taken care of. I know if I get involved I'll just be enabling her.

Seriously, people who think there is nothing wrong with our current medical system need to be hit with a hard reality hammer.

[damntexdem]

7. Who owes the money? Is the debt now your sister's, unless Medi-Cal comes through?

If she gets left holding the bag, then it's a bag that she bought all on her own.

Meanwhile, you need to grieve.

[CountAllVotes]

8. Medi-Cal may want the $$$ back for the care

that is why I advised the OP to get a lawyer/estate & wills. Too many people involved and why is the sister collecting the mother's social security?

The medical bills if via Medi-Cal will have to be paid out of the estate before anything can be spent.

Perhaps this differs from state to state? :shrug:

[Xolodno]

10. She isn't collecting...

...she's an unintended beneficiary while she lives with my mom.

Nothing in the estate, it was all transferred into a trust.

And if they try to do anything, we have a lawyer lined up just in case. Just frustrates me that I thought everything was handled...only to get this.

[Xolodno]

9. The debt would fall to my Mom if...

...its not paid.

I got her to tell me what the breakdown of the bills were. Thus far, all the bills are coming from when my father started convulsing and was out of town. Interestingly, the hospital bill isn't included, nor have we heard from the hospital where he passed away at, which seems to indicate they got paid, but these smaller ones somehow fell through the cracks. Told her to make no assumptions and to call the hospitals and his radiation therapy to make sure they got paid. Just because we haven't heard doesn't mean they won't surprise us later.

[ET Awful]

11. The fact is that if your mother didn't sign anything saying she'd pay his bills,

in most states, the debt would have died with your father (may he rest in peace).

Unless she signed something acknowledging she'd be responsible, or the fees were already paid via a joint account, it would be very difficult for anyone to hold her responsible for any debt incurred.

That would also include any credit cards or accounts that were only in his name. She is not liable for them unless she specifically agreed to be.