Does unpaid medical expenses cause problems for returning to USA?

[hello123]

Hello,

 

Sorry, I am not sure which forum this would go under. Please move if you like.

 

My wife and I sponsored her parents to visit us last summer and Fall. They both received 10 year traveler's visas. The visit went well except we discovered that her Father had previously undiagnosed (Type II?) Diabetes.

During our process in getting the initial diagnoses and initial treatment, we occurred some medical expenses. Before their visit, I had payed for medical insurance through "Insubuy". Unfortunately the clinic would not take the insurance card and billed us directly. So when I saw the bill I filed a claim and forgot about it.

 

About a month ago I found an old bill and called the medical facility but they refused to give me any information as to whether or not the bill was paid because I was not her Father. So again I forgot about it.

 

Well, long story short we got a call from a debt collector today indicating that her Father had unpaid bills. They said that it was against the law for them to give us anymore information and they would try to contact him again in the future.

 

So now what do we do? If I can't talk to anyone about the unpaid bills and no one will accept a payment how can we get this off his record? Will this affect him if he visits us again? Could he be refused entry? Also, we have other relatives that have travel visa's that we sponsored. Would they be refused entry because a person we sponsored has unpaid debt?

 

It's such an odd feeling for me to be so involved with paying their expenses and medical insurance and now be blocked out of everything. If I could I would simply pay off the remainder since it should be less than $400 anyway.

[Randy W]

Why not have your wife contact the hospital and pay the bill? They should be willing to talk to her - if not, go to the medical billing dept in person. A power of attorney would seem to be possible, but overkill.

 

This is simply a debt collection issue - NOT our forte.

[newacct]

Private debts generally do not affect getting visas or entering the US.

[jonathantwu]

if it is forwarded for collection, it is on his credit records, paying it off now will not improve anything in reality. Since it is for your FIL, I would just lay it off, there appears nothing to do at this point.

[Randy W]

if it is forwarded for collection, it is on his credit records, paying it off now will not improve anything in reality. Since it is for your FIL, I would just lay it off, there appears nothing to do at this point.

 

It is NEVER advisable to leave a debt unpaid - they can be pretty unscrupulous

 

we got a call from a debt collector today indicating that her Father had unpaid bills. They said that it was against the law for them to give us anymore information and they would try to contact him again in the future.

[jonathantwu]

 

if it is forwarded for collection, it is on his credit records, paying it off now will not improve anything in reality. Since it is for your FIL, I would just lay it off, there appears nothing to do at this point.

 

 

It is NEVER advisable to leave a debt unpaid - they can be pretty unscrupulous

 

I am not advocating being a dead beat but from a practical POV, once it is posted on the credit reports for collection, no amount of repayment will make that disappear there are millions every year who can't pay their medical bills not by choice.