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Poohbah
Member Since Apr 2016
Location: NY
Posts: 1,168
8 68 hugs
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#1
Anyone else drowning in medical debt? I don't know what to do.
__________________ dx: schizoaffective bipolar type; OCD; GAD rx: clozapine, clonazepam PRN |
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Anonymous46341, cashart10, TheSeaCat
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Legendary Wise Elder
Community Liaison
Member Since Jul 2011
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 22,450
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#2
Many of my bills just wind up in collections . I hate it but what can I do ... I owe almost 200.00 to a Neurologist and 250 something to Orthopedic group. I have no way of paying and cheapest payment plan is 50 each per month.
I have no real advice. I feel your pain __________________ Helping others gets me out of my own head ~ |
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Anonymous46341, cashart10
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Member
Member Since Jun 2015
Location: Maine
Posts: 281
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#3
I'm over 50k in medical bills with my local hospital network. From emergency room visits when I was unstable to regular doctors appointments cause they all bill through the same office. About 30k has gone to collections. Another bill for over 20k keeps coming but I can't possibly pay it with no job or income. I have various other bills for like xrays and my psychiatrist. They don't send to collections tho thank god. Just keep working with you. Healthcare costs in America are absurd. I think they just pull random numbers out of their asses. Ugh!!
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bizi, cashart10
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~Christina
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Neurodivergent
Member Since Mar 2012
Location: Western US
Posts: 4,831
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#4
You might want to ask about patient assistance programs. They're the best-kept secret in the medical world. You'd have to include tax forms and proof of income with your application, but these documents are easy to find for most people and it's certainly worth doing a little digging if you need to. Some clinics/hospital systems will forgive up to 100% of your debt if you're low-income. Even if you're not, they will almost always accept a payment plan you can afford. Definitely check with your clinic or group to see if one of these programs is available to you. Good luck!
__________________ DX: Bipolar 1 Anxiety Tardive dyskinesia Mild cognitive impairment RX: Celexa 20 mg Gabapentin 1200 mg Geodon 40 mg AM, 60 mg PM Klonopin 0.5 mg PRN Lamictal 500 mg Levothyroxine 125 mcg (rx'd for depression) Trazodone 150 mg Zyprexa 7.5 mg Please come visit me @ http://bpnurse.com |
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bizi
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Calypso2632, cashart10, TheSeaCat, ~Christina
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Posts: n/a
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#5
My 10 hospitalizations (grand total almost 4 months) and 11 IOPs (one lasted six months) exhausted our savings about eight years ago. Since then, we pay credit card debt with home equity loans, my husband's side job, and family "gifts". Eventually even they aren't enough. We can barely afford where we live. We're stuck for now, though.
My husband wants to move to Europe. He has joint US and EU country citizenship. Moving to certain countries in Europe would actually provide a safer more secure life for us financially and in terms of healthcare. It is sad, because we love the US. My family has been in the US since as far back as the early 1700s. I feel a deep love for my state and American heritage. What should people do to prevent future medical debt? Vote for candidates that support universal healthcare in the US or Medicare For All. Or, beg the top 1% in the country to use some of their tax breaks to help us out. Consider starting with Rupert Murdoch. Or maybe the Trump Charitable Foundation will help? Oh, I forgot. That's closed down because of misuse (personal use) of funds. Last edited by Anonymous46341; Mar 04, 2019 at 12:38 AM.. |
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bizi, cashart10
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bizi
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Grand Member
Member Since Sep 2018
Location: U.S.A
Posts: 796
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#6
I agree with BipolaRNurse; I am currently a Practice Manager for a clinic and we have exactly what she mentioned; we have all sorts of programs to help out; we understand that not every patient will be able to pay there bill so we offer certain programs to help out; even if they don't qualify we are pretty flexible when it comes to payment plans and some programs will forgive all medical debt; some clinics have it and as far as I know all hospitals offer something to help with getting care you might not otherwise be able to afford.
I also deal with medical bills myself and I have found my best tip is to budget; plan for that into the monthly budget. I typically see my Cardiologist biweekly so I always budget his copays into my monthly visit and at least one visit with my primary doc even though I don't see him monthly anymore I still like to be on the save side and budget that into it since you can't exactly plan when you are going to get sick. I am sorry you are dealing with this. __________________ Generalized Anxiety Disorder Depression Symptoms of PTSD Trintellix 10mg once daily Buspar 10mg three times daily |
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cashart10
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cashart10
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Bizi is bizi
Member Since Nov 2005
Location: cajun country
Posts: 10,851
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#7
I have had hospital debt that I paid $5 every 2 weeks for years. then the collections company changed hands and started calling regularly and we finally paid off the debt.It was from a 3 day hospital stay. very expensive!
bizi __________________ 150mg of lamictal 2x a day haldol 5mg 2x a day 1mg of cogentin 2x a day klonipin , 1mg at night, 4-5 peri-colace for chronic constipation multi vit,, vit c, at noon, tumeric, caffeine at noon PRN Remeron 15mg at night, zyprexa10mg under tongue, requip2mg. |
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cashart10
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