Settling Medical Debt to Avoid Wage Garnishment
Medical debt has become a significant burden in this country, and Lilburn residents like other Americans struggle to pay back hospital and other health care bills. For most people with unpaid medical debt, taking on that debt did not feel like a choice. In most circumstances, it was necessary because of a serious health issue or emergency. Even when Americans have health insurance, their out-of-pocket costs can be very high. According to a recent report from KFF Health News, debtors are now finding that their wages are being garnished by creditors in order to collect medical debt. Learning that your wages have been garnished — or that garnishment may be coming — can be upsetting and embarrassing. Debtors do not want their employers to know about their medical debts in most cases. Moreover, many debtors simply have not paid their medical debt because they cannot afford it.
Could settling medical debt be the answer? For some, it may be a solution to avoiding wage garnishment. Our Lilburn debt settlement attorneys can say more.
Creditors Garnishing Wages for Unpaid Medical Bills
Before we get to the potential solution of debt settlement, it is important to understand a bit more about wage garnishment for medical bills. Under Georgia Code 18-4-4, a creditor may be able to obtain a garnishment for a debt owed. Unpaid health care bills, like other forms of unsecured debt that is unpaid, can be the subject of a garnishment.
According to the KFF Health News report, by the time a garnishment occurs, unpaid health care bills have often expanded in amount due to interest and court fees — often more than 25 percent of the amount of the initial bill. That report indicates that some medical debt rose by more than 400 percent by the time of a garnishment. These types of health care garnishments are occurring for a range of medical bills that range from merely $30 to more than $30,000. And it is small health care companies, as well as medium-sized and large hospitals, that are seeking to recoup debt from patients through garnishment: “big health care chains, small rural hospitals, physician groups, public ambulance services, and more.”
Settling Medical Debt to Stop or Avoid Wage Garnishment
As the KFF Health News report points out, some states have “banned wage garnishment for medical debt,” but Georgia is not among those states. Accordingly, you could face wage garnishment if you owe medical debt and have become delinquent.
Debt settlement may be the solution. In order to settle your medical debt, you will need to plan to pay a percentage of what you owe. Your debt settlement lawyer can then negotiate with the creditor for you to pay that smaller amount and for the creditor to forgive the remaining debt. With a debt settlement agreement, wage garnishment can stop if it has already begun, and you can avoid future wage garnishment for that debt.
Contact a Lilburn Debt Settlement Lawyer to Discuss Your Options Today
Medical debt, along with other forms of consumer debt, is a substantial burden for residents of the Lilburn area and throughout the state of Georgia. Nobody wants to take on significant amounts of medical debt. However, required procedures, health issues, and emergency circumstances can all mean that medical debt is unavoidable. Even with health insurance, the out-of-pocket costs are often insurmountable for many Americans.
If you are now in a situation where your wages are being garnished or you are at risk of wage garnishment due to medical debt, it may be possible to settle the debt. An experienced Georgia debt settlement attorney at Konn Law Firm LLC can speak with you today to learn more about your circumstances and to talk about strategies for a debt settlement agreement. Contact our firm today to learn more about how we can help.
Sources:
kffhealthnews.org/news/article/colorado-wage-garnishment-health-care-medical-debt-collections-medicaid/
law.justia.com/codes/georgia/title-18/chapter-4/article-1/section-18-4-4/
