Medical Bills or Mortgage Payment | Something has to Give

I worked in the medical field (along side Social Workers) for about 6+ years.  I know from this experience and on a personal level how fees for hospital, doctor and associated tests can terrify someone into not seeking care when they need it, or if the bills have already piled up, how tempting it is to ignore them.  When you don't have the money and haven't been told about the various kinds of assistance that exist for help with these bills, what the hell are you going to do?

First thing is first, don't delay treatment of a medical condition if you don't have insurance or have shitty insurance.  It will only get worse, and I'm sure you know this.

Free Care
Contact the doctor's office or hospital of where you are seeking care and ask them if they have either a Free Care or Charity Care program.  Most public hospitals have this and many doctors offices do, too.  Some private doctors offices may not have this kind of assistance, but if you call an office and they tell you they don't offer this, ask them if they know of another office that does.

Search for free clinics in your area, as well.  These are great if you need to need medical care for more basic things like a cold or general check up.

Unfortunately, the very existence of this assistance is not made known to many patients.  It is only after someone has suffered a heart attack, diabetic ketoacidosis, or a mental breakdown that this information is disclosed.  Once you are in a hospital bed and the charges begin accumulating, then everyone takes notice.

YOU HAVE TO BE YOUR OWN ADVOCATE FOR YOUR HEALTH

I had surgery last March, and even though I had insurance, I racked up tons of bills.  There was a 20% co-insurance that I was responsible for paying, but I knew that I could get this written off by the patient billing office.  I applied for free care the percentage of the bill(s)that my insurance didn't pick up.

A few tips:

If you have just missed a lot of work, make sure to submit proof of income for this period.  You are making less because you have been ill, and this is what should be evaluated as your present income.

Don't ignore the bills.  Even if they begin showing up in the mail, you will not be sent to collections if you are communicating with the billing office.  They will put a note in their database that you are applying for assistance.  Should you not qualify for help or 100% write off, pay what you can.  Hey, if $20 a month is all that you can afford, set the payment up with the billing office.  You can pay only what you have and in doing so, you are still making good on the debt.

Medication Assistance
One more type of assistance that I'd like to share is for medication(s).  I have helped people apply for this and I have used it myself when I've found myself with out health insurance.  Pharmaceutical companies generally have free med programs for their name brand medications.  Check out:

http://www.needymeds.org/

Generic medications often times have a $4/ month equivalent that you can take.  Obviously you have to discuss this with your doctor, but have a list of these meds on hand when you do talk to your doctor about more affordable options.  Just because Wal-Mart has a national pharmacy chain, I'm going to post their link to give an example.  Many other pharmacies are offering the same or similar prices for generic medications, you just have to look online to find them or ask the pharmacist about them.

http://www.walmart.com/cp/1078664

I hope this helps someone.  I no longer work in the social work area, but I always try to share the vital lessons that I learned on the job.  I can also say that I have used these programs myself, and paid Bank of America my monthly mortgage throughout it all.