Nashville Bankruptcy Law Blog

A significant number of Americans in Tennessee may face a growing debt burden as a result of medical bills. Even though people often prepare extensively for the medical costs they will have to bear, almost one out of every seven patients received an unexpected bill despite receiving treatment at hospitals considered in-network for their insurance providers. In many cases, even in-network hospitals resulted in at least one out-of-network claim. People who needed anesthesia under surgery often faced these claims; 16.5 percent of all such claims were associated with anesthesiology.

In addition, hospitals who sent blood work to independent labs often led to unexpected bills. Over 20 percent of all of these out-of-network medical bills were associated with lab testing. The number of claims varied from state to state; in Minnesota, only 1.7 percent of in-network hospital admissions were associated with unexpected bills, but 26.3 percent of admissions in Florida were associated with these costly claims. Patients themselves have no control over these outcomes; they do not select independent labs or medical professionals.

A number of Tennessee residents are battling with debt, whether it be from medical bills, credit card balances or student loans. Understanding the impact that this debt is having on their workers, a number of companies around the United States are offering to help pay off employee debt.

There are a number of different approaches that these companies are taking, ranging from offering discounts on medical debt to offering interest-free loans to pay off debt. The loans are then repaid through payroll deduction. Some employers are offering their employees payday advances or emergency loans to cover expenses. The idea behind these loans is to help employees avoid visiting institutions that offer payday loans as a business as these can lead a person into a continual spiral of debt an eventual Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Tennessee residents who are considering filing for bankruptcy may have several available options. One possibility is to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which is also referred to as a liquidation bankruptcy. In this type of filing, nonexempt assets are sold off with the money used to repay creditors. A key benefit of Chapter 7 protection from creditors is that debts are generally discharged in a matter of months as opposed to a matter of years.

This is beneficial because lenders generally won't want to work with debtors until after the bankruptcy case is over. However, a debtor will need to pass a means test to qualify for Chapter 7 protection from creditors. Generally speaking, those who have little or no disposable income will be allowed to file while others will need to file for Chapter 13 protection instead.

Many of us are familiar with the stories of famous people who got rich and then seemingly "lost it all," declaring bankruptcy and tanking financially. Some of the best known are entertainers, business leaders and politicians.

But how much do we know about the ones who bounced back from financial troubles and achieved "success"? A recent Forbes story highlighted nine famous individuals who were able to amass wealth after declaring bankruptcy.