Several researches reveal the fact that medical debt is the reason behind 62% of all personal bankruptcy filings in the United States. Studies also reveal that most of the people, who declare bankruptcy due to huge amount of medical debt, have health insurance policies. So, it is important that you learn to manage your medical bills so as to avoid filing a bankruptcy because of huge medical debt. Go through this article to know how to manage or stay away from medical debt.
1. Try to pay bills by cash – Paying medical bills by cash or check is one of the best ways to avoid medical debt. Some medical service providers also offer cash discounts for paying bills out of pocket. Even if you pay by credit cards, try to pay off the balance in full at the end of your billing cycle. Otherwise, with time, high interest bills may pile up and you may face difficulty to pay off debt later.
2. Make sure you’re in network – One of the best ways to avoid medical debt is to receive services from providers within your insurance carrier’s network. With most health insurance plans, you may have to pay much less if you choose in-network doctors, pharmacies and hospitals. In certain cases, you may not get any coverage for services received by medical providers outside your insurance carrier’s network.
3. Examine medical bills carefully – Some industry experts are of the view that about 80% of medical bills contain inflated charges or errors. So, it is advisable that you always check your bills for errors. It may happen that you’ve been charged for a full day when you’ve checked out before noon or for a medicine that you never took. So, always ask for an itemized copy of your medical bill along with copies of your pharmacy ledger and your medical chart. You should compare the ledger and the medical chart with the itemized bill to check for discrepancies. Along with it, you should also look for charges due to hospital errors, such as, an X-ray that had to be redone due to a hospital technician’s mistake.
4. Negotiate for an alternative payment plan – When you’re unable to pay off your medical bills due to a financial hardship, you may explain your financial situation to the billing officer and work out a payment plan with the hospital. You may explain your financial situation over phone and follow up with a letter stating why you can’t pay and ask for discount on your bill so that you can pay it off. You may also request the hospital management to give you a certain amount of time to pay off the medical bills. Make sure to get a written agreement before you start making payments as otherwise the hospital can later claim that the amount you’ve paid was inadequate.
If required, you can also get help from the financial counselors in the hospitals. The counselors can examine your financial situation and check whether or not you can qualify for getting help from government agencies or the hospital itself in order to get out of your medical bill debt. However, the hospital charity programs usually don’t cover services from medical providers (such as, specialists or doctors) who bill you separately. In such a situation, you may have to negotiate with the medical providers on your own for an alternative payment plan in order to get rid of your medical debt.
Jason Holmes is a regular writer with Debt Consolidation Care and is also a contributory writer with other financial sites. His expertise is woven around various aspects of the debt industry and with his e-books he tries to impart to people the different situations and simple solutions to get out of difficult situations. Some of his works include e-books like Credit Score The Quintessential Therapy for a Happy Pocket, Take Creditors and Collection Agencies to Small Claims Court and My Story- From Depression To a Smile.
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