McMillan Law's office is in Tampa. I represent people in St. Petersburg and everywhere else in Florida, and the free case review happens by phone or online, so you don't have to drive anywhere to get started.
Last reviewed October 8, 2026 by Jackson McMillan, Florida attorney
Storm-season hospital bills, and now a debt collector or court papers
For some St. Petersburg families, a debt lawsuit over medical bills traces back to the 2024 hurricanes. When Helene's surge hit in September and Milton followed that October, many Pinellas County homes and rentals were damaged, and the injuries and illnesses of storm season came with bills: a fall while hauling soaked drywall out of a house in Shore Acres, an ambulance ride from a flooded street near the Gulf beaches, or a hospital stay that landed while coverage was lapsing.
Months later, the bills move on. A collection agency writes, the hospital's billing office calls, or a summons arrives naming the hospital or a company that bought the account. Medical bills are also easy to get wrong: a charge your insurer should have paid, a line item billed twice, or a separate bill from a doctor you didn't know was billing on their own.
How long can a hospital sue you for a bill in Florida?
Since 2024, Florida has given hospital medical debt its own deadline. A suit generally has to be filed within 3 years, counted from when the bill was referred to collection (Fla. Stat. § 95.11(4)). Most other consumer debts get 4 or 5 years. If a St. Petersburg hospital bill went to collection in late 2024, its 3-year clock is already well underway.
Two cautions. First, the time limit is a defense that must be raised in the response to the lawsuit, because the judge won't apply it on their own. Second, a payment on a debt based on a signed agreement can extend the clock, and a signed, written promise to pay can have the same effect.
Federal rules also bar a debt collector, including a company that bought the bill, from suing or threatening to sue once the limit has passed. That particular rule covers collectors, not the hospital itself.
Upload the summons or collection letter, the itemized hospital bill, and whatever your insurer sent you to my free case review. I look at the dates first, because on a hospital bill they can change everything.
Nonprofit hospitals have to look for financial help first
Federal tax rules put extra duties on nonprofit hospitals. Each one must have a written financial assistance policy explaining who qualifies for free or discounted care and how to apply. Before it sues, garnishes, or reports you to a credit bureau, it generally has to make reasonable efforts to learn whether you qualify. In practice, that means waiting at least 120 days after the first bill following your discharge and giving written notice at least 30 days before taking those steps.
Patients can generally apply for that help for 240 days after the first post-discharge bill. If you qualify, the hospital has to undo collection steps it already took and refund what you overpaid. These tax rules don't give you a lawsuit of your own, but a nonprofit hospital that skipped them may face a defense in its collection case. They don't reach for-profit hospitals, ambulance companies, or doctors who bill separately.
Medical debt cases I take from St. Petersburg and Pinellas County
McMillan Law's office is across Tampa Bay in Tampa, and I represent people in St. Petersburg and throughout Pinellas County who are being sued or pursued over medical bills. That includes homeowners in Old Northeast and Kenwood, renters downtown, and USF St. Petersburg students who ended up in an emergency room without good coverage. Pinellas and Pasco together make up the Sixth Judicial Circuit, and federal law generally requires a debt collector to file in the county where you live or where you signed.
Storm recovery adds its own wrinkles around the Tampa Bay area. Federal rules make FEMA assistance paid to individuals and households exempt from garnishment. If the same medical bill is dragging down your credit while you borrow for repairs, my guide to credit report errors in St. Petersburg covers that side. Renters can read about getting a deposit back in St. Petersburg, and if money vanished from a bank or payment app in the chaos, see denied fraud claims in St. Petersburg.
What you can win or save on a hospital bill
- A case that ends in your favor. A suit filed after the 3-year limit, a balance your insurer should have covered, or charges the hospital can't back up may mean you owe nothing on that lawsuit.
- Not paying a spouse's bill. Being married doesn't, by itself, make you liable for your husband's or wife's medical care in Florida. Unless you signed on as responsible, for example as a co-signer, a spouse's hospital bill generally isn't yours.
- More of your property kept. Against hospital debt, Florida shields up to $10,000 of equity in a car and another $10,000 in other property, beyond your homestead and Social Security. Ordinary debts get less: $5,000 for a car and $1,000 in belongings.
- Fees in both directions. If the financial paperwork you signed lets the hospital collect its attorney's fees, Florida law lets you ask for yours when you win. Lose, and the hospital or its collector may add its fees to what it's owed.
- Claims for misconduct. Florida's collection law covers the hospital's own billing office as well as collection agencies. It bars calls between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. without your consent and harassment of you or your family, with statutory damages of up to $1,000. My page on debt collector harassment lists more.
The case review is free. Fees for defending a debt lawsuit depend on the case. I explain your options, and every term is in writing before you sign anything.
St. Pete deadlines that won't wait
- 20 calendar days after service to respond to a county court lawsuit.
- The pretrial conference date printed on your papers if the case is in small claims ($8,000 or less). You or your lawyer must be there.
- Any time before a default is entered, a late response can still matter, because the hospital or collector has to ask the court for that default first.
- 20 days from receiving a garnishment notice to claim protected money.
- 1 year to sue a collection agency under federal law, and 2 years under Florida's collection law.
A St. Petersburg checklist for medical debt
- Find the date the bill first went to collection, often shown on the earliest collection letter.
- Pull together the paper: itemized bills, your insurer's explanation of benefits forms, and any financial assistance application or notice you received.
- Write down when you were served, or the court date printed on the summons.
- Hold off on payments or a payment plan for an old bill until you know where the 3-year clock stands.
- Keep a log of calls, texts, and voicemails from the hospital or any collector, with dates and times.
- Send the court papers to me. Upload them with the bills, and my free case review will cover whether the time limit, the hospital's own rules, or a collector's conduct gives you room to fight.