My wife and I live in Riverside, CA. She recently had an accident and
needed to go to an emergency room. We do not have health insurance,
have little money, and the hospital knew this.  They took her name and
address only ? did not request or receive her social security number. 
She signed no documents agreeing to pay or to be billed later.  When
she was released the next day (kept much longer than she demanded),
the hospital said her bill would be very reasonable because she was
unemployed with no insurance, and told her not to worry. So today we
received a bill from the hospital for $3,860.  We cannot pay this
absurd, inflated bill and the question is ? if the hospital has no
social security number, and/or no signature agreeing to be responsible
for the bill, can they collect? And how can they collect anyway?  My wife could
have given them a bogus name and address at admission?they never
checked or even asked for a form of ID.   Help please and thank you in
advance.

Your wife received the service and you owe the bill. 
Suggest you direct your efforts towards paying the bill instead of
trying to find a way out of paying for a service that your wife
received and you owe.

soulnsea...

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Have your wife look into getting on Medicaid.  If she can qualify,
they'll cover hospital expenses up to three months before she got on
the Medicaid program...