Statute of Limitations for Medical Debt

A medical debt, like other debts, is limited by state statutes of limitations. What statute of limitations applies to your medical debt can differ based on various factors, some of which require the expertise of an experienced attorney to determine. Talk to a lawyer in your area if you need legal advice about medical debts.

Limitations

A statute of limitations is a legal time limit. It states that a party has a limited amount of time in which to take a specific action. When it comes to medical debts, statutes of limitations limit the time in which a medical creditor, such as a physician or health care provider, has to sue a debtor for an unpaid medical debt. There are four kinds of debts that state statutes of limitations address: open accounts, promissory notes, written contracts and oral contracts.

Medical Debts

Medical debts are usually incurred after a patient has received treatment from a health care provider and signed a written agreement with the provider. If, however, the patient did not enter into a written agreement with the provider, the medical debt might be considered an oral agreement. This distinction is important as the statute of limitations that applies may differ based on whether the agreement is an oral agreement or written contract.

State Differences

Each state has its own statutes limiting when a creditor can sue a debtor to recover an unpaid debt. For example, as of April 2011, the state of Alaska has a statute of limitations that imposes a six-year limit on all types of debt. The state of Louisiana, on the other hand, imposes a 10-year limit on all kinds of debts except open accounts, which is subject to a three-year limit.

Affirmative Defense

Even if the statute of limitations on debt has expired, that doesn't mean a health care provider to whom you owe a debt cannot sue you. You can still be sued for failure to repay a medical debt and will have to go to court or file a response before you can avoid the debt because of the statute of limitations. The statutes of limitations afford a debtor an affirmative defense, meaning the debtor has to respond to any lawsuit and prove that the time limit has expired.