Yes. Medical bills are one of the most common reasons people file bankruptcy in Pennsylvania — and they’re also one of the easiest kinds of debt for bankruptcy to eliminate. If a surgery, an ER visit, or a chronic condition has left you with bills you can never realistically pay, here is the truth about your options.
Medical debt is treated like credit card debt
Under the bankruptcy code, medical bills are “general unsecured” debt — the same category as credit cards and personal loans. In a Chapter 7, that means they are wiped out entirely. There is no special test, no cap on the amount, and no requirement that you prove the bills were an emergency. A $900 ambulance bill and a $90,000 hospital bill are treated exactly the same way: gone.
This includes:
- Hospital and emergency room bills
- Surgery and anesthesia charges
- Ambulance bills
- Doctor, specialist, and clinic bills
- Dental and orthodontic bills
- Balances you put on medical credit cards or general credit cards to pay for care
In a Chapter 13, medical debt is paid whatever small percentage your plan pays to unsecured creditors generally — often pennies on the dollar — and the rest is discharged at the end of the plan.
A few things worth knowing before you file
Finish the treatment first, if you can. Bankruptcy only discharges debts you owe on the day you file. If you’re in the middle of a course of treatment — scheduled surgeries, ongoing therapy, a pregnancy — more bills are coming, and bills incurred after filing are yours to pay. When the situation allows, it usually makes sense to file after the major treatment is complete. When it doesn’t allow, talk to your lawyer about the timing strategy.
Emergency care can’t be denied over a discharged bill. Federal law requires hospital emergency departments to treat emergencies regardless of ability to pay. What can change: a private practice that you discharged a balance with may decline to continue you as a non-emergency patient, or may require payment up front going forward. Most people find that a fair trade for wiping out five figures of debt, but you should hear it from us before you file, not discover it after.
Watch what you sign at the hospital. Sometimes a medical bill gets converted into something else — put on a payment plan secured by property, or bundled into a loan. Debts that started as medical bills but became secured loans are handled differently. Bring all the paperwork to your consultation and we’ll sort out exactly what you owe and in what form.
You are not a bad person for doing this. Medical debt is rarely the result of irresponsibility. It’s the result of getting sick or hurt in a system where an ambulance ride can cost more than a car. The bankruptcy laws exist for exactly this — honest people, hit with bills nobody could plan for.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a limit on how much medical debt I can discharge?
No. Unlike some categories of debt, there’s no dollar cap on discharging medical bills in a Chapter 7.
Will filing bankruptcy stop a lawsuit over a medical bill?
Yes. Hospitals and collection agencies sue over medical bills regularly. Filing bankruptcy triggers the automatic stay, which stops the lawsuit, and the discharge eliminates the debt behind it.
What if only the medical bills are the problem — everything else is fine?
That’s more common than you’d think, and the answer is the same. Bankruptcy looks at the whole picture, and if medical debt is the weight dragging you under, discharging it is a legitimate, legal fresh start.
Talk it over, free
If medical bills are keeping you up at night, call the Law Offices of Jason P. Provinzano, LLC at 570-822-5771 for a free consultation. We’re located at 16 W. Northampton Street in Wilkes-Barre, and there’s no obligation — just straight answers about what bankruptcy can do for you.
This article is general information about bankruptcy law, not legal advice about your specific situation.
