$107,000 Dollar Bill

[pezstar]

In December of 2007, my husband and I discovered that I was pregnant. Babies were not yet in our life plan, so after many, many discussion, we decided that the best option was to contact an adoption agency and begin the process. I picked a great family, got through the pregnancy, had the baby girl on July 1 of 2008 (a month and a half early, oh no!) signed the papers and tried to get on with my life.

 

That process was easily the most difficult thing I've gone through, emotionally. Both my husband and I have decent jobs, we have health insurance, and could have financially supported a child. We just weren't ready for children yet, and made a decision that seemed selfish to me, but no one can qualify it as selfish because I gave a baby to a really great couple who couldn't have one. It was, and is, difficult. The best thing to do is to move on and recover emotionally.

 

The financial process of our adoption was as follows: We were to file claims with our health insurance company for the cost of the delivery: An emergency c-section with 6 days in the hospital for me and 14 days in the hospital for the baby. Our health insurance policy has a clause stating that if anyone else could be held responsible for the charges, they won't pay them. Because it was an adoption, per our adoption contract, if our insurance company denied the claim, the adoption agency would be held responsible for the charges. I know that their contract with the adoptive parents states that the parents would be responsible for the charges. Those charges were $107,000. Of course, upon receipt of the claim and medical records, which contained information regarding the adoption, my health insurance company denied the claim.

 

Here is where it gets sticky. 2 weeks after the papers were signed, but well before the adoption was finalized, the agency we went through filed for bankruptcy. I contacted my adoption counselor and she said that I would need to go to the adoption finalization hearing and present my bills to the judge. The judge looked at it and looked at the contracts, and because I had a contract with the agency and not the parents, decided that I would need to file a claim with the bankruptcy court the agency was going through. That's only fair, and I agree with the judge.

 

I filed a claim with the bankruptcy court, and the bottom line is that I am now on the hook for a lot of money. I'm not sure about the details of why, but am expecting a letter from the court in the next week or so. I contacted the attorney's office which is attempting to collect this debt, and they offered to settle it for 47k. We don't have anything close to 47k in the bank. We have SOME money, but we're a young, recently married couple and are saving for a house and a future together.

 

Because of all of this... crap, this adoption is still hanging over my head. It's hard to move on when I am getting calls and bills asking me for more money than twice my annual income or they will sue. Any payment plan they have offered is far more than we can afford right now... 3,000 dollars a month? Come on. This is not a subprime mortgage.

 

I don't really have any questions. This forum answers anything I can think of. I'm going to employ the tactics I've read here and see what I can do about it. I will keep you all updated. I just wanted to tell my story.

[Why Chat]

In December of 2007, my husband and I discovered that I was pregnant. Babies were not yet in our life plan, so after many, many discussion, we decided that the best option was to contact an adoption agency and begin the process. I picked a great family, got through the pregnancy, had the baby girl on July 1 of 2008 (a month and a half early, oh no!) signed the papers and tried to get on with my life.

 

That process was easily the most difficult thing I've gone through, emotionally. Both my husband and I have decent jobs, we have health insurance, and could have financially supported a child. We just weren't ready for children yet, and made a decision that seemed selfish to me, but no one can qualify it as selfish because I gave a baby to a really great couple who couldn't have one. It was, and is, difficult. The best thing to do is to move on and recover emotionally.

 

The financial process of our adoption was as follows: We were to file claims with our health insurance company for the cost of the delivery: An emergency c-section with 6 days in the hospital for me and 14 days in the hospital for the baby. Our health insurance policy has a clause stating that if anyone else could be held responsible for the charges, they won't pay them. Because it was an adoption, per our adoption contract, if our insurance company denied the claim, the adoption agency would be held responsible for the charges. I know that their contract with the adoptive parents states that the parents would be responsible for the charges. Those charges were $107,000. Of course, upon receipt of the claim and medical records, which contained information regarding the adoption, my health insurance company denied the claim.

 

Here is where it gets sticky. 2 weeks after the papers were signed, but well before the adoption was finalized, the agency we went through filed for bankruptcy. I contacted my adoption counselor and she said that I would need to go to the adoption finalization hearing and present my bills to the judge. The judge looked at it and looked at the contracts, and because I had a contract with the agency and not the parents, decided that I would need to file a claim with the bankruptcy court the agency was going through. That's only fair, and I agree with the judge.

 

I filed a claim with the bankruptcy court, and the bottom line is that I am now on the hook for a lot of money. I'm not sure about the details of why, but am expecting a letter from the court in the next week or so. I contacted the attorney's office which is attempting to collect this debt, and they offered to settle it for 47k. We don't have anything close to 47k in the bank. We have SOME money, but we're a young, recently married couple and are saving for a house and a future together.

 

Because of all of this... crap, this adoption is still hanging over my head. It's hard to move on when I am getting calls and bills asking me for more money than twice my annual income or they will sue. Any payment plan they have offered is far more than we can afford right now... 3,000 dollars a month? Come on. This is not a subprime mortgage.

 

I don't really have any questions. This forum answers anything I can think of. I'm going to employ the tactics I've read here and see what I can do about it. I will keep you all updated. I just wanted to tell my story.

Yours is a very sad story of the effect of the "Law Of Unintended Consequence".

Let me see if I understand the "chain of liability" of your medical expenses.

 

Your contract with the adoption service held them responsible for medical costs if your insurance wouldn't pay, however, THEY had a contract with the adoptive parents--

I know that their contract with the adoptive parents states that the parents would be responsible for the charges.

 

The adoptive parents would have been, and in my opinion still are, liable under THEIR contract to the adoption agency, and since THEY did not file BK, their contract should still prevail.

 

Your adoption counselor is NOT the one you should be getting legal advice from. You need a real lawyer ASAP who can file a claim against the adoptive parents, ( who are probably not even aware of the problem).

 

The reason the adoption counselor gave you such bad advice, ( IMO) was to protect the adoptive rights of the adopting couple, as the abrogation of the contract COULD nullify the adoption agreement.

[pezstar]

That's most of the contracts. There is also the one that I signed when I checked into the hospital, saying that I was responsible. So it's the hospital's contract with me, my contract with the adoption agency, the agency's contract with the adoptive parents.

 

Once I get the letter from the bankruptcy court, I'm going to set up a meeting with the attorney I used to file the paperwork with that court to see what my next step should be. The only other thing I can think of is to offer the collection attorney a 25k settlement and max out my USAA credit card. This is something I really, really do not want to do.

[Why Chat]

That's most of the contracts. There is also the one that I signed when I checked into the hospital, saying that I was responsible. So it's the hospital's contract with me, my contract with the adoption agency, the agency's contract with the adoptive parents.

 

Once I get the letter from the bankruptcy court, I'm going to set up a meeting with the attorney I used to file the paperwork with that court to see what my next step should be. The only other thing I can think of is to offer the collection attorney a 25k settlement and max out my USAA credit card. This is something I really, really do not want to do.

You are NOT responsible for the medical costs. The adoptive parents signed an agreement accepting responsibility for those costs. You are getting bad advice.