Although his insurance company paid close to $900,000 of the bill, there was an outstanding balance of $117,000 owed to IHC.

The man said he wanted to set up a monthly $800 payment plan, but IHC wouldn't go along with it because he had a house.

"I wasn't expecting them to write it off and I wanted them to work with me on it, but they wouldn't budge."

His church leader tried to intervene on his behalf, but the family was eventually forced to take out bankruptcy.

"When I hear about their charitable campaigns, it just makes me laugh because they hold themselves out there on one hand, but on the other hand, they were putting bamboo shoots under my nails to get me to pay up."

IHC's Daron Cowley says the organization attempts to work with families struggling to pay their medical bills. Cowley said $80 million in bad debt was written off last year. In the same year, 150,000 people applied for and received charitable care.

Very few collections, he added, end up in court.

"There is a smear campaign going on out there," he said. "There are things being told that are outright lies."

Cowley added ownership of a home would not preclude the man's ability to get charity care or be put on a monthly payment plan.

But the man said IHC gave his family no choice but to declare bankruptcy, an action he said was personally very difficult for him and his wife.

"I recommitted to my other bills and paid them. I had a tough time with this because my son received excellent care. Many of those workers are fabulous, but the higher up management, the ones who run things and jockey the finances, they're just ruthless."

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E-mail: amyjoi@desnews.com