I have seen people refer multiple times to a 4 year SOL for medical debts, and that it is in the UCC somewhere. However with research, this still remains unclear to me. I do know that no SOL will hold for hospital debts that have been eventually been paid by a state, as that becomes government debt and whynot has pointed this out. This is a serarate issue however. Notwithstanding this...it is possible for people to acquire 50-100k in medical debt in some cases from doctors or surgeons and other services that bill outside the hospital. So...is there really a stated 4 year SOL nation wide, and can someone quote or point me to it.
Yes it is possible to have in excess of $100K in medical bills. My first born cost my insurer over $300K and that was after write downs. Were the other medical providers seen while in the hospital or at their offices? If seen at an office, then most likely there will be a written agreement for service and generally that will be covered under written agreements in your state statutes.
The Uniform Commerical Code applies primarily to the sale of goods. At least Article 2 does. 2A is for leaseholds and 9 is for Secured Transactions and so on and so forth but, as it pertains to your question no, the UCC would not control medical debts. Those would be express written agreements and thus, the statute of limitations would be controlled by state common law or enumerated under state code.
Thanks for confirming what I have known all along. I've been seeing for the last couple of years where folks have been trying to tie the UCC to hospital debts, but I just never saw it. One truth though, there is a huge difference between tax supported hospitals vs that of a profit hospital, in that the SOL never expires for tax supported hospitals.
Keep in mind that UCC 3-311 should apply to any checks sent to virtually anyone (medical included), regardless of whether the UCC applies otherwise.
Thank you for the reminder. I keep reading where some opine that UCC governs the SOL on medical debt. But I just don't see it.
I've also heard that the SOL never expires on hospitals that accept Medicare and/or Medicaid along with tax-supported hospitals like those run by a county or state. Do you suppose this is a federal regulation contained in the CFR? I'm looking for a cite if possible.
Would make sense just as is the case with overpay in unemployement, tax liens (some exceptions), and student loans.
There is an informative manual on defending hospital collection suits on the Illinois Pro Bono site. A lot of it is Illinois specific, but there is also information applicable anywhere. http://www.illinoisprobono.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.dsp_content&contentID=728
