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Re:Surgery estimated cost $1,300. Then the Bill Came: $229,000 by nrmitchi on Saturday May 21, 2022 @05:42PM (#31462163)
So I guess the standard "you should have read the terms and conditions before you signed the form" only applies in one direction eh?
Re:Surgery estimated cost $1,300. Then the Bill Came: $229,000 by ajross on Saturday May 21, 2022 @05:48PM (#31462232)
If you present a contract to the hospital and explain that these are your terms, and a reasonably understood officer of the business signs it, then sure: they're on the hook. Contracts are contracts, and the law gives great weight to consent, even in circumstances like this where it's not clear a real negotiation happened.

The idea above was about "swapping" some random document in for the standard form and presenting it to them as if it was their document. That's not good faith negotiation, that's just fraud.

Re:Surgery estimated cost $1,300. Then the Bill Came: $229,000 by drdec on Saturday May 21, 2022 @06:40PM (#31462746)
You don't need the new document to hold up in court, the gambit is to deprive them of having your legal agreement.

Granted, a court might still see that as fraud, IANAL.

Re:Surgery estimated cost $1,300. Then the Bill Came: $229,000 by ajross on Saturday May 21, 2022 @06:57PM (#31462915)
And again, refusing to sign a contract while presenting to a business as if you did for the purpose of getting out of the payment agreement is simply fraud. It's not even arguable.
Re:Surgery estimated cost $1,300. Then the Bill Came: $229,000 by rowanG077 on Saturday May 21, 2022 @06:10PM (#31462434)
If you gave back a different form and the hospital doesn't bother to check it's their fault. Sending back amended contracts back to back during negotiations is completely normal.
Re:Surgery estimated cost $1,300. Then the Bill Came: $229,000 by resoluteteeth on Saturday May 21, 2022 @06:31PM (#31462642)
There is a difference between informing them you are modifying it or sending back a clearly edited version and stealthily modifying it in the hopes that they won't notice.

I don't think it's going to hold up if you surreptitiously modify it in bad faith.