Dad sent to prison over unpaid bills for son, wife

[BrasSmonkey]

At a time when healthcare policy dominates national debate, a county in Kansas is jailing individuals with medical debt.

Judge David Casement is a magistrate judge in Coffeyville, Kansas, where the poverty rate is twice the national average. He presides over cases in which individuals with medical debt are brought to court to face the medical companies they owe. During the hearings, the debtors must make a case for their own poverty during what is known as a “debtors exam.”

The practice was detailed extensively in a ProPublica report from October.

One of the debt collectors at the center of the debtors exams, an attorney named Michael Hassenplug, has essentially built a law practice around collecting medical debt.

Mr Hassenplug influenced the creation of a law under which the court can compel people with outstanding medical bills to appear in court every three months and make a defense of their poverty.

During the hearings, debt collectors can assess the financial situations of the debtors and afterward attempt to negotiate payment plans. If a debtor misses two hearings, Mr Casement issues an arrest warrant for contempt of court and sets bail at $500.

Mr Hassenplug gets paid a portion of the debtor’s bail money. Generally when a defendant appears in court, their bail money is refunded. In Coffeyville, however, bail money is used to pay attorneys fees and medical companies who are owed debt.

Tre Biggs was one of the individuals who found themselves on the receiving end of the law.

Biggs’ family suffered from numerous medical issues. His five-year-old son had leukemia and his wife, Heather, suffered from seizures related to Lyme disease.

“We had so many, multiple health issues in our family at the same time, it put us in a bracket that made insurance unattainable," Ms Biggs said in an interview with CBS News. "It would have made no sense. We would have had to have not eaten, not had a home."

When Mr Biggs failed to appear in court - at the time he was working two jobs, but still fell behind paying the family’s debt - he was sentenced to prison.

“I was scared to death. I’m a country kid, I had to strip down, get hosed and put on a jumpsuit,” he said. “You wouldn’t think you’d go to jail over medical bills.”

Mr Biggs said his family had access to “$50 to $100” at the time of his arrest. His bail was set at $500.

Nusrat Choudhury, the deputy director of the ACLU, said the county’s practice raises “serious constitutional concerns.”

“What’s happening here is a jailhouse shake-down for cash that is the criminalization of private debt,” he said.

Since the use of debtors exams in Coffeyville gained notoriety, Mr. Hassenplug’s Yelp page has been attacked by individuals who take exception to his methods. Outraged users have tanked his business rating to 1 star and have peppered his page with photos of faeces and other unpleasant images.

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[TheButcher]

Okay here's why he went to jail, for failing to appear at a court hearing. That is how I read it, not for owing medical bills.

[BrasSmonkey]

Okay here's why he went to jail, for failing to appear at a court hearing. That is how I read it, not for owing medical bills.

believe it or not you are worth more in prison

[TheButcher]

Okay here's why he went to jail, for failing to appear at a court hearing. That is how I read it, not for owing medical bills.

believe it or not you are worth more in prison

Hell yes I know, the prison system is privatized in most places and it's big business unfortuntely.

[AlexO]

They did away with debtor jails, or is it making a come back again.

[jag]

What about Obamacre didn't it make health care affordable for everyone.

[voyeurz]

pay your bills on time no one will come after you.

[vblogger]

pay your bills on time no one will come after you.

Medical bills can go sky high very fast

[24alex]

It sucks when you can not get $500 bail money together and have to spend time inside

[BrasSmonkey]

It sucks when you can not get $500 bail money together and have to spend time inside

i would think his wife would have done a gofundme wtf is that idiot doing?

[XpressPete]

You fail to pay child support I support you being thrown to jail, kids need to be cared for even when you break up with your spouse.

[BrasSmonkey]

You fail to pay child support I support you being thrown to jail, kids need to be cared for even when you break up with your spouse.

medical bills

[T.B.W]

Prisons are going to get very over crowded if they start locking people up for back payments on child support and alimony.

[BrasSmonkey]

Prisons are going to get very over crowded if they start locking people up for back payments on child support and alimony.

they already arrest you for that if you get too far behind. where you been? we are talking medical for a child of a married couple... you dip shit

[T.B.W]

they already arrest you for that if you get too far behind. where you been? we are talking medical for a child of a married couple... you dip shit

I have never seen the outside of one or know any one in one, I pay my bills. If I can;t afford a thing I either put it on my credit line or credit cards, but always have enough to pay more than the minimum payments.