Pre-Filing Paralegal

1. Tell me about your role at Bankruptcy Law Professionals – what is a typical day like?

I am the Pre-Filing Paralegal for all new clients. That means that I talk with new clients to set up their initial consultation with the attorney and make sure that all their bankruptcy documents are collected before we file their bankruptcy with the court. A typical day consists of receiving calls for all new clients and following up with clients who still need to retain our firm and provide us with their documents. I review client files, scan their documents, and make sure their file is all ready for us to prepare their case and schedule their signing appointment. I am also Jesse’s assistant, which consists of taking his voicemails, scheduling his calendar, and working on marketing material for him.

2. What do you enjoy most about your work?

I most enjoy being able to work from home. I also like that this job is not stressful, as most of the clients are kind and just appreciate all the help that Jesse and the firm are doing to help them with their debt. I like helping people, and I get to talk with clients every day, even though I wish sometimes that I could meet them face to face!

3. What were you doing before you joined Bankruptcy Law Professionals?

Before I joined BLP, I worked as the Associate Director for Admissions at Colorado Christian University for five years. I helped lead the Admissions team, recruited potential students from Northern Colorado, and helped students and their families decide if CCU was the right fit for them. I enjoyed my job and was able to earn my MBA for free while I worked there – which was a huge plus!

4. What are your goals for the future?

My career goals are not as clear or set in stone, as my family goals. I am having my first baby – a BOY – in late February. My husband and I are excited to finally be parents and love on this little one as much as possible! I have wanted to be a mom since I can remember, and this is a dream come true for me personally. As for my future career goals, I hope to one day use my MBA to help women experience fresh new starts. I have always had a passion for women with rough pasts or who have not had the greatest chances to succeed at life. I would hope to one day be part of an organization that helps these women get on their feet again, and discover their God-given purpose!

5. What do you like about living in Colorado?

To start, I grew up in El Paso, Texas – you got to love living on the border – except that most people just drive through El Paso and don’t stay for long. That being said, I love everything about living in Colorado! I have lived here for over 10 years, and I have enjoyed that we get all four seasons here. I enjoy the mountains, the community I have here, and the fact that I met my husband here. I love the local church I am part of out here, and I don’t plan on moving anytime soon!

6. If you could win a dream vacation, where would you go and what would you do there?

If I could win a dream vacation, I would want it to be a cruise or tour of Europe with my husband. He has never been, and I absolutely love Europe. I would want to do a three-week trip touring Europe with a really nice camera to capture all our favorite memories. I would want Ireland and Italy to be included in that tour. I love to travel and my passport is always ready for a good trip overseas!

The new site includes our blog, which has articles on budgeting, bankruptcy tips, and more. It also includes client forms, bankruptcy resources, staff bios, and more.

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So if you’re facing some tough medical bills and would like to negotiate the prices or terms, it’s certainly in your favor to do so. There is often room for negotiation with doctor’s offices and hospitals, even if your bill is overdue. Here are some tips and steps to consider when embarking on a medical bill negotiation.

IT DOESN’T HURT TO ASK

An excellent first step is to just pick up the phone and speak to someone in the billing department of your physician’s office or hospital. Explain your situation calmly and find out what your options are. You might get an on-the-spot hardship discount.

Ask about special needs programs. Hospitals often do not advertise these programs, but they exist. You might qualify for discounts or to have your bill dismissed entirely. Hospitals often have financial counselors and patient advocates who can help you. Just ask.

If you do not have insurance, it’s worth asking for a discount based on this fact. The healthcare provider might accept a loss on your service or give you a discount because you do not have insurance. Hospitals and physicians regularly have up to a dozen costs for the same procedure, depending on whether the payer is an individual, Medicare, Medicaid, insurance, etc. Why not ask them to give you the lowest of those rates, if they are acceptable for other people to pay? You could start by asking what the Medicare rate is for your procedure, as that’s often the lowest.

DO YOUR RESEARCH

This stage requires perseverance and patience, as you are now entering the complicated world of medical billing. But it can have big payoffs.

Mistakes are often made on medical bills. In fact, one out of every five medical claims are improperly processed, According to the American Medical Association. So review your bills carefully and make sure you haven’t been double billed for anything. If you see separate entries for “anesthesia” for example, make sure anesthesia charges weren’t included in other areas. You might have to get on the phone and ask some questions.

Get online and research costs for your procedure. A good place to start is the Healthcare Blue Book, which lists the fair market price of most procedures. Think of it like buying a car. Knowing the cost range for the item helps you negotiate a price on the lower end of that scale.

Medicare prices are the standard that many insurance companies and healthcare providers go by, so get online and find out the rate for your procedure. A good place to start is the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Medicare Web site. Enter your ZIP code and begin comparing hospital rates.

CONSIDER A PAYMENT PLAN

Physicians or hospitals would much rather receive payments over a period of time rather than never at all. So it’s in your favor to discuss a payment plan arrangement for your medical bills. Ask about interest though, as many charge hefty fees for the privilege of paying over time. Ask for this fee to be waived because of your circumstances.

TURN TO A HEALTHCARE ADVOCATE FOR HELP

Even though it may not seem like it, there are people on your side. Some areas have healthcare advocates — start by finding your state Attorney General’s office at www.naag.org. Or reach out to The Patient Advocacy Foundation for free advice.

If you can find an individual healthcare advocate who earns a commission on the money they save you, this is an excellent option. These professionals are often previous employees of health insurance companies or hospital billing departments. So they have the expertise to help you negotiate and research your procedure costs.

DECK YOUR HALLS WITHOUT BREAKING THE BANK

• Get your kids or grandkids in on the action. Set up an art station with paints, crayons, glitter, and glue, and have the little artists make holiday decorations. They will love seeing their handiwork displayed – and you will have inexpensive decorations.
• Recycle things you have around the house like lightbulbs (makes a great santa face), old wrapping paper and bows (for new ornaments), and last-year’s Christmas cards (for cute new decorations). There are some very inventive ideas here: http://www.allfreecrafts.com/christmas/index.shtml
• Make angel ornaments out of coffee filters. Here are instructions if you’d like to give this creative idea a try. http://crafts.kaboose.com/easy-coffee-filter-angel.html
• Pop some popcorn and string it up using a needle and thread. Add some color with cranberries, beads, or buttons.
• Decorate your house by bringing the outside in, using whatever you can find outside, such as pinecones, tree branches, and acorns.
• Go with an artificial tree that will last year after year. Compare the cost of pre-lit trees with buying an unlit tree plus separate strings of lights. Often, the pre-lit can be cheaper.
• Cover your walls and doors with homemade snowflakes, in a variety of sizes, cut from regular computer paper. It’s a simple old-fashioned decoration that has big impact.

WRAP GIFTS IN STYLE, FOR LESS

• Check out dollar stores – they often have great options for gift wrap, bags, and bows.
• Use what you have on hand, like the comics from the newspaper, colorful magazine ads, or pretty calendar pictures.
• Print out kids’ pictures on computer paper and use that as wrapping paper – the grandparents will love it!
  • Make your own gift wrap out of brown paper grocery bags – just take some sponges and cut out shapes like stars and trees, then load them up with paint and stamp the paper.
  • Look for non-holiday specific paper that’s still festive and colorful, like bright reds, greens, and silver or gold.
  • Get the kids to make their own gift wrap, using large sheets of drawing paper and some crayons or markers.
  • Make your own gift tags out of last year’s Christmas cards or by cutting a small piece of matching wrapping paper and folding it in half.

GIFT-GIVING ON A BUDGET

• Set a spending limit and stick to it. Perhaps you set an overall amount, or a limit per person. This will help frame your holiday shopping season and keep your spending in check.
• If someone surprises you with a gift, don’t feel obligated to reciprocate. Just explain to them that you’re on a strict budget this year, they will understand.
• Do a family grab bag and pull names out of a hat for gift-giving. That way, everyone gets a gift but you only have to buy one.
• Just buy for the children. Adults often decide to forego gift exchanges and just focus on the kids at the holidays. The joy on their faces can be your gift!
• Make vouchers for around-the-house chores, such as two hours of yardwork help for your brother-in-law, help painting your mother’s bedroom, or watching your sister’s kids for an afternoon. Your time and effort is free, but they will appreciate the gift!
• Make homemade gifts, such as knitted hats and mittens, baked goods, candies, or picture collages. These gifts are often more meaningful than the latest expensive gadget.
• Take advantage of websites that offer “gifts under $20” categories, like Gifts.com and Amazon.com
• Consider sending an eCard with a beautiful heart-felt message of appreciation to your friend or family member. It’s free and the person will be touched by your effort. Or perhaps you can use eCards instead of printing out family letters. Here are a few sites to check out: www.123greetings.com and www.bluemountain.com

So if you’re knee-deep in a pile of medical bills, here are some tips for staying organized and managing your bills.

TAKE SOME TIME TO UNDERSTAND THE BILLS

Medical bills can be confusing – containing medical jargon, complicated calculations, and information about benefit coverage. If you do a little research and gain a basic understanding of how a medical bill is typically laid out, you will give yourself the foundation you need to get a handle on them.

In particular, take time to understand the bills that you get most often from a specific provider. If you will repeatedly see one certain physician, it will be worth your while to understand the bill for their services. Call your insurance provider or the medical office directly if you have any questions.

Here’s a great article on Understanding Medical Bills – http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/pat-advocacy/healthcare/888.html

It’s also important to understand your insurance benefits or if you use supplemental insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid, to know what is covered.

PHYSICIALLY ORGANIZE THE BILLS

Grab yourself a file cabinet, set of folders, or accordion file, along with your pile of bills and get to work organizing them. This will help you spot any duplicates and past-due notices, plus will help you stay organized in the future.

To tackle this, start by separating the bills by provider (hospital or doctor’s office you visited), putting the oldest bills on the bottom. If you haven’t already, mark all paid bills with PAID. Pin any duplicates together and flag any past-due notices with a sticky note. Or hold those out in a separate pile to be paid.

Now sort through the documents called Explanation of Medical Benefits and any Medicare or Medicaid statements – sort those by provider and place those with the correct date of service in your previous sorting. Look through your remaining pile for any supplemental insurance statements, payment statements, receipts, prescription information, and claim forms – put everything applicable to a service date together. For example, if you had a hospital visit on May 15^th, find everything related to that visit and keep it together in one folder or file.

WRITE UP A TO-DO LIST

As questions or action items arise during your sorting, don’t stop organizing, just jot these items down. For example, if you have supplemental insurance to pay for remaining balances and need to fill out paperwork for a certain service, make a note of the service date and provider and get back to it. Or if you have to make a follow-up call to understand a charge, write that down as well.

For payment due dates, keep reminders in a central location, such as a wall calendar, daytimer, or online calendar. Or set up automatic payments through your online banking function.

DOCUMENT THE PROCESS

It might also be helpful to keep notes on what you’re doing as you follow up. So the next time comes around that you have to follow a certain insurance procedure or download a form online, you’ll jog your memory about what to do. You can also start a spreadsheet of payments made – or even simpler, a written list in a notebook.

TURN TO A SERVICE FOR HELP

If you are using an employer-sponsored health plan, you might have access to an online program that helps you understand your benefits and keep track of expenses. If not, there are other options:

SIMPLEE – an online healthcare service where you pay your medical bills, track your spending, and consolidate healthcare accounts to manage plans, claims, and more.

http://simplee.com/why-simplee

MEDICAL BILLS PLUS – software that provides an easy way to record medical visits and costs as they occur, and to calculate and display information that enables you to effectively manage your medical insurance program.

http://www.sparrow-technologies.com/mbplus.htm

SMART MEDICAL CONSUMER – a web-based service for consumers to manage their medical expenses, with features including automatic detection of medical billing mistakes.

http://www.smartmedicalconsumer.com/

IN THE NEXT ISSUE: We will continue our advice on handling medical bills, including tips to help if you need more time to pay or want to negotiate costs.

I understand you worked for Jesse two years ago, then went law school. Tell me what you did for Jesse back then.
In August 2006, my wife and I had moved from Chicago to the Denver-area so my wife could start her Master’s program. I found Jesse’s office through the Christian Legal Society directory. I started out as a case preparation paralegal. About a year later, I switched positions to work as the case manager. In that position, I oversaw the entire life of our clients’ cases from consult to discharge (or plan confirmation). I also answered our clients’ questions about their cases. I left the firm in the summer of 2008 to move back to Illinois to begin law school at Northern Illinois University, College of Law, Dekalb, IL.

Did you plan to specialize in bankruptcy law?
I wasn’t sure what area of law I wanted to specialize in when I started school, but I knew that I wanted to practice law to help people by making the legal system more accessible to those in need.

What made you contact Jesse after you graduated?
Jesse and I stayed in contact over e-mail and Facebook after I left. During my last year of school, I e-mailed him to get his advice and insight into the current legal market. The long and short of it is, Jesse offered me a position to come on as an associate when I finished school. I was thrilled at the opportunity because I really enjoy Jesse as a person and respect him as an attorney and manager.

In your soon-to-be attorney position, what will your role/duties be in the firm?
As an attorney I will have lots of new responsibilities. I will sign my name to the documents that are filed with the court. I will meet with clients to provide them with legal counsel. Additionally, I will also appear before the court on our client’s behalf and accompany them to their 341 meetings, which is a fact-gathering meeting with the creditors.

What do you enjoy most about bankruptcy law?
The part of bankruptcy law that I enjoy the most is hearing our clients’ stories and being able to offer them hope and a real opportunity with a fresh start. I also enjoy trying to figure out how the “weird” cases should get resolved.

Once you’ve completed the bar exam, what will you do with your spare time?
Once the bar is over I look forward to spending my free time with my wonderful wife, our fun little two-year old boy, and our daughter that is due here this September. In addition to spending time with my family I love brewing beer at home, mountain biking, camping, and snowboarding. I am very much looking forward to this next chapter in my life.

How do you know when you’ve reached your breaking point – when you’ve pushed your limits too far? Is it when you can’t sleep? Can’t eat? Can’t concentrate? It can be hard to tell when enough is enough and you are in full burnout mode. But sometimes too much is, well, too much.

We want to hear from you – comment on this blog post and tell us if you’ve ever reached your breaking point and how you knew. Maybe even give us a tip on how you got through it. Many people like you read this blog and it’s our hope it becomes a community that helps each other.

We would love to hear any ideas you have for improving it. When you first sought our help, was anything on the site confusing? Would you like to see more helpful articles, forms, or other resources?

Let us know! Leave a comment on this blog post.

FEDERAL ASSISTANCE

Federal loans, such as Stafford and PLUS (loans for parents), are the largest providers of financial assistance for higher education. Because the government encourages higher learning at colleges and universities, these programs are still available to those who have filed bankruptcy.

There are two subcategories within the federal assistance bucket – grants and loans. Grants are need-based or merit-based scholarships that don’t have to be repaid. They are based on either a special achievement of some type, such as academic excellence or athletic skill, or based on household income or hardship. Loans have to be repaid, but have lower interest rates and more flexible repayment schedules.

The good news is that bankruptcy is not a factor in receiving grants and loans from the federal government, providing your criminal record is clear. Your credit history and income are not factors in being approved for federal loans. However, if you’ve defaulted on a school loan in the past, this could affect your chances for receiving another loan.

A good place to start seeking federal assistance is filling out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. The FAFSA allows the school and the federal government to determine what kind of financial aid you are eligible for.

PRIVATE LOANS

Unfortunately, private loans may not be an option for financial assistance after a bankruptcy. These programs are not regulated by the government and therefore have stricter criteria for approval. Private lenders typically look at whether there has been a bankruptcy within the past 10 years and may deny based on that.

A few exceptions exist, such as if the bankruptcy was the result of a natural disaster or extraordinary medical costs. And if the parent has filed bankruptcy, this should not affect on their child’s eligibility for private financial assistance (as long as parents are not cosigning).

Lenders also look at payout plans. Borrowers who filed for a Chapter 11 or Chapter 13 and had a payout plan will be more likely to get a private loan than borrowers who filed a Chapter 7. Lenders also look at whether the borrower is able to refile for bankruptcy – making Chapter 7 filers more attractive because they are unable to immediately refile.

Your first phone call should be to the financial aid department of the school you (or your child) plan to attend. It is not uncommon for bankruptcy filers to seek financial assistance and the experts will know the best options for your specific circumstances.

Diana & Franz Schneider

DIANA SCHNEIDER, PRE-FILING PARALEGAL

Tell me about your background before you joined Bankruptcy Law Professionals.

I worked as a church secretary for six years (from 2002 to 2008), then stopped working in August 2008 to marry my love as well as take some time off until April 2009 when I started working as the File and Admin Clerk for Bankruptcy Law Professionals.

What does a typical work day look like for you?
I am currently the Pre-filing Paralegal, which means I work on data entry/case preps. I spend most of my day typing our client’s information into our Bankruptcy Case software, which takes anywhere from three to five hours per case. Mix in phone calls, emails, as well as filing cases and documents electronically for our clients and you’ve got a good picture of a typical day as a Pre-filing Paralegal.

What do you enjoy most about your job?
I love working for Jesse (he’s a super-boss) and I enjoy all my hardworking coworkers. I love the flexibility of what I do and being able to problem-solve and help others out. One of the most satisfying things is to be able to help a client solve a problem and make their day brighter.

What do you like to do in your spare time?
I love interior design and am currently in the process of decorating and remodeling our recently purchased home. Anything DIY or home-project related gets me super excited. I love me a good Before and After. I also have a side-business/hobby of photography; it’s so fun to capture someone’s moment on film!

If you won the lottery today, what would you do?
Hmmm, I think I would use some towards remodeling and paying off our house, give a part to people I know that are in need, a part to my local church/missions, and use the rest to go shopping at IKEA!