Burden of Medical Expenses

Your health and that of your family members is very important. The burden of medical expenses can be overwhelming, especially when unexpected illnesses occur. Many of us face the intimidating reality of large medical bills, paired with a lack of health insurance or adequate income. This situation often leads to significant financial stress on top of health concerns. What steps can you take if you find yourself overwhelmed by medical bills? How can you manage if the hospital, physician, or healthcare institution sends you a bill that seems impossible to pay?

Common Errors in Medical Bills

Before panicking over how to address your medical bill, take a moment to carefully review its details. Confirming accuracy is very important because you should only pay for services you actually received. Common billing errors include the following:

• Charges for services not rendered:
  Compare your medical records with the bill.
• Double billing:
  Confirm you’re not being charged twice for the same service.
• Billed for failed services:
  You shouldn’t pay for medical errors.
• Incorrect medication prices:
  Verify medication costs against standard pricing.

It is important to scrutinize every detail of the bill before paying for it. Check the time billed to you for your stay in the hospital. Sometimes, they mix these up and if you are not careful, you could end up paying for something that was not done to you.

Options for Medical Debt Relief

If you’ve double-checked your bill and it’s accurate, but the amount is more than you can afford, it’s time to consider medical debt relief. This can be a practical solution for managing overwhelming bills. Debt relief can significantly reduce your financial burden. A debt negotiator can work with your creditors to lower your total balance and possibly waive some charges, including high interest and late fees.

However, it’s also important to be proactive in minimizing medical expenses from the start. Here’s how:

• HRSA

This is the main agency supported by the Federal Government to provide free or affordable health care services. HRSA stand for Health Resources and Services Administration. To find out more about how they can help visit their website at http://www.hrsa.gov/index.html.

• Free Health Care Providers

One option is to approach free health care providers. They either charge you with nothing or very little fees. Search for public and private healthcare agencies that has programs that can treat your condition. Free checkup and prescriptions are available to eligible patients. Visit the Healthcare.gov site for more information.

• Non-Profit Organizations

For people with specific conditions and illnesses, you have the option to approach organizations supporting such causes. For instance, Operation Smile focuses on helping people with cleft lip and palate problems. Cancer institutions are also abound to help cancer patients get the medication and treatment that they need without having to deal with the high costs associated with them.

• Government programs for medical bills and debts

The government provided a lot of agencies that will help consumers settle their medical bills. This involves consultations and sessions that will educate debtors on abusive collection practices and high interest rate charges.

Of course, if you have done everything and you still find that the costs of your mounting medical bills are too much to handle, debt relief companies like NationalDebtRelief.com that can help you negotiate for a lower balance on your bill without resorting to medical debt bankruptcy. Their goal is to have a certain percentage of that debt forgiven so you have a lower payment to deal with.

Give us a call and we can sit down to discuss your unique medical bill problem. You can fill up the short form on this page and we will have someone call you as soon as possible.