Hi All,

So my Aunt was visiting from the Philippines and had to be rushed to the hospital after severe abdominal pain. Turns out she had appendicitis and needed surgery to get her appendix removed.

She did not have any travel insurance, and we received the bill yesterday for $14,000. My parents both make slightly above minimum wage ($17 and $18.50), have a mortgage, but they don't have $14,000 lying around.

My dad wants to get a Line of Credit or HELOC to pay off the medical bill, but my mom says that they shouldn't pay since they can't afford to go into debt. Apparently if you don't pay, the bill goes into collections and since my aunt will be returning to the Philippines, they won't be able to do anything once she's out of the country.

Is this true? And will it impact my parents if collections go after them? What is recommended to be done in this case?

I live in Ontario if that makes any difference.