Comments on: I’m Drowning in Medical Debt. Help! (Reader Q&A)

By: Jeff Rose

Jeff Rose — Sun, 19 Mar 2017 21:36:40 +0000

In reply to Medical Bills New To Us. They're well hidden. The practice of multiple practices sending multiple invoices is "normal", and there's usually no upfront disclosure, other than having you sign an agreement that you're responsible for whatever your insurance company doesn't pay. The good part is that many will settle for uncovered expenses. It may be worth trying to negotiate a partial payoff. That works best with older bills.

By: Medical Bills New To Us

Medical Bills New To Us — Thu, 16 Mar 2017 03:20:16 +0000

Good information in this article. Having paid $1,200/mo for a Kaiser HMO independent plan for 2 adults, and not having all the additional paperwork and 20%, and in/out of network thing is new to us. My husband has bad eyeballs, and his ocular care, surgeries, and pharma is expensive. Sometimes you don’t sign up for this journey, but you accept it. What pisses me off is the lack of disclosure regarding costs. I ask, so I don’t get surprise medical bill anxiety, but the lies and push-back is disconcerting. Us smart proactive women are considered *itches for actually reading docs, and asking for and wanting disclosure. I’ve been given the 20% without the amt billed. I have an Acct’g background, and I find it appalling. Trying to get facts is amazingly a challenge. HCA is a pita. Surgical Centers (freestanding) have been ridiculous in giving me insight into who will be billing us. I made a list and asked her, center -yes, anesthesiologist-yes, surgeon-yes…I mean, just give me the macro picture, and lets be done with it. She tried to avoid my persistence. Where are the medical disclosure consumer protection laws?

By: Jon@2-copper-coins.com

Jon@2-copper-coins.com — Mon, 09 Dec 2013 06:55:28 +0000

This is an incredibly helpful post. So many people feel powerless to do anything when faced with a big medical bill. It also is really unfortunate that there are very few protections in place for people who are over their heads in medical bills. I have a close friend who needs this information right now, I’m passing it on to them. Thank you for the help.

By: Jason Cabler (@DrCabler)

Jason Cabler (@DrCabler) — Sun, 08 Dec 2013 20:23:25 +0000

All great tips Gerri! Medical bills can easily get out of hand, especially where there is no insurance involved. But sometimes it can get pretty high even when you do have insurance.

That’s why it’s absolutely necessary to maintain a healthy emergency fund. It might not cover the whole thing, but it will surely help mitigate the damage. I know this from personal experience as I had 2 heart attacks this year, even though I’ve always been healthier and in better physical shape than most people I know.

I’ve also written a couple of posts about dealing with medical debt that might be helpful as well:

“How to Pay Off a Mountain of Medical Debt- What Not To Do”

http://www.cfinancialfreedom.com/how-to-pay-off-medical-debt-1/

By: dojo

dojo — Sun, 08 Dec 2013 11:52:29 +0000

Our medical system is in shambles here, so it’s getting expensive to get a decent service. Anyway, we still don’t have too many people who’d get into debt for medical reasons and the State system, while very flawed, still can take care of the people. It’s really sad to see many US citizens who PAY TAXES and INSURANCE have to deal with all this crap and even get into debt to cover their medical needs. There’s something clearly wrong with this world 🙁