Just to fill in some blanks. Most of these bills were for mental health and addiction recovery. With the marrage on the rock the wife did not want to allow me to see these. So the bills came in my wife’s name, the collection notices came in my wife’s name, the collection calls came in my wife’s name. Finally, when the Sheriff served me with Garnishment papers I knew something was up. I called the court about the papers and they said these were medical bills for my wife and by HIPPA laws they could not discuss the bills with me. This held true for the hospital and collection agents. In short I was to simply believe there was a bill and I was to just pay them. Numerous I might add. Of course by then (garnishment) it was way late for my credit report. I’m still trying to find a way to address this to the credit agencies.

I don’t understand how you could have wage garnishments and not notice them until you looked at your credit report! A wage garnishment means someone is taking part of your wages. Wouldn’t you notice that, even if you didn’t notice getting sued?

Once a judgment has been entered against you, you might have limited options for re-opening the case (improper service, wrong jurisdiction, etc.) but at that point, a creditor has very little reason to negotiate with you. Even those options have fairly strict time limits, so act soon!

Get a copy of the papers in the court file and consult an attorney – soon! Most county bar associations offer referral services for free or low cost consultations.

Any collection agency or provider and give you an invoice with generic information that shows the total and payment address. Normally the date of service is also included as well. There is no reason why they would not be able to provide this to you. I often will ask the provider to show me where exactly in the HIPAA regulations it states that they can’t bill me directly (or whatever they are claiming). There is significant misinterpretation of HIPAA in general with individuals attributing policies which are not actually defined in the regulations.

Furthermore, if it’s gone to collections at this point, the collections agency can absolutely provide you with a bill that you can pay.

HIPPAA is horrible in so many ways. I suppose I could understand not sharing information with someone who is not paying the bills for the patient. But when you have parents kept from having critical information about their kids, especially when they are in college, which is an age when a lot of mental health problems start to appear, then keeping information from the people who care the most about that person is criminal. Next time you hear about a shooting at a college, remember what I have written here.

Back to you situation. If your wife signed any HIPPA waivers in the office that provided care for her, it also covers access to billing for services in that office/institution. So ask to see if they have that on file & ask for the office manager, not the front office staff or receptionist. Second, if it got to the point of being garnished, there should have been billing and/or some form of communication from the billing groups. Sounds like it was a stressful time, but did you or your wife respond to these bills or attempt to work out a payment plan? All or most MD’s or hospitals will work with you on a payment plan as long as you are actively working with them & pay the agreed amount on time. If your wife indicated you were the “responsible” party on the intake form or like you said, are the primary on the insurance, you may be on the hook for the $$. But when it comes to garnishment, they go to whoever has the income & if you wife is not working, then that’s you. If she is working, then they should have garnished her wages. Another thought, you mentioned you were on the verge of divorce…were you legally separated & if so, that separation my support her being liable. I do think pursuing this with all involved prior to retaining a lawyer might save you some $$ & have it resolved. But if they are unwilling to talk with you, is your wife willing to sign a paper for you to have access so they can discuss it with you? The last course would be a lawyer. But if you ignored the bills & did not communicate with them or if your wife is/was not working & you are the sole provider, I’m sorry to say, you may be stuck with the situation.

All hospitals “write off” a ton of billing under “charity” write offs. The key is being proactive & asking for this. I’m sorry for your situation, but hopefully, this will be resolved & perhaps help someone else.