Here's the story--

My daughter has student loans (not sure of the amount, but for 1 semester) from the 1980s.
I don't know the full story of why, but she stopped paying them some time ago and is now being garnisheed.

The problem is, she has 2 chronic illnesses (1 (Lupis) life-threatening, that caused he to be off from work for almost 2 yrs) that require a number of medications.
Because of the garnishment, she cannot afford the co-pay on some of her medications, and is not taking them as she should. I can see a downturn in her medical status, both physical (from not taking her meds) and emotional (from worrying).

She, unfortunately, misses a lot of work as it is, due to her illnesses, (has a FMLA to cover that, but doesn't get paid for those days) and without taking her meds, I see that number of missed days increasing.

She has moved back home with me. I don't ask her to pay anything, because I know she can't afford it. Sadly, I am not in a position to buy her meds every month, although I do what I can, when I can.

Is there anything she can do to try to get the amount of the garnishment decreased, so that she can buy her medicines every month? Everything I see is for help before the loans get to the garnishment stage.

I appreciate any help you can give.

I *think* there is a form that can be processed that can reduce the amount of garnishment. Not sure if it works after garnishment starts or not.

try contacting the Omsbudsman office and explain the situation. They can help you work with the lender and try to get garnishment reduced.

I agree...see needs to contact the Ombudsman. On top to that, she should be working hard on getting this loan consolidated to stop the garnishment.

Agreeing with the other posts - she needs to consolidate these loans as soon as possible to stop the garnishment, but in the interim she needs to contact the Ombudsman to get the garnishment halted.

Good luck.

Stress is the last thing she needs with Lupus.


I just want to say good luck with trying to get this resolved.

Off the garnishment but another thing that might help your daughter is prescription assistance. Check with her dr and see if the manufacturer of any of her meds offer prescription assistance. Some companies will send the meds for free (tax write-off) or at very low cost. If she isn't on disability that might be something to look into as well.

I appreciate all of the help. She has started the process of gathering all of her information for the ombudsman.

My next question--how (where) would she go about consolidating her loans? Needless to say, after being off from work for 2 yrs (she returned to work one year ago), her credit is in the toilet.


As far as disability, she doesn't want to go that route for now. She really doesn't want to admit how serious her illness is.

Since she has insurance, I don't think she can qualify for prescription assistance. She is in a medical study, so gets an infusion once a month that she doesn't have to pay for. That only leaves 6 or 7 that she has to pay for.

She can consolidate thru http://www.loanconsolidation.ed.gov/ It is NOT credit based.

Because she is in default, she will automatically be assigned to the income contingent repayment plan. She can take a hardship or medical deferment too.

coming out of lurkerdom to chime in. (I should be posting a question about Cavalry soon).

Your doctor may be able to check with the drug rep that comes into his/her office either for the drug your daughter is on, or from the company that makes the drug (Pfeizer, Merk, Roche, ect). Or, if you know the company that makes the drug, you can call them. It's not prescription assistance per say. I have patients in the office I work that are in need of reduced/free meds, and the reps are happy to help.