Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Pay Less for Medical Bills

For those without health insurance, remember you can let the medical provider know and ask for a discount. I have done this and gotten 10-35% discounts. Usually this means paying right away; however if you have no insurance and ask to make a payment plan, the medical providers can still give a discount. For instance, a relative had a bill from the hospital. I forget the exact figures but do remember that if he had insurance the bill came to over 20 thousand dollars (the relative had been in the hospital for about five days- the docs insisted on giving him a whole lot of tests though he did not really need them in my opinion if one looked at his history). Since he did not have insurance, the medical bill came to around fifteen thousand. Another relative of mine had a bill of around six thousand because of surgery needed to fix a broken arm. He did not have a job yet. Because the hospital had grants, they forgave the whole bill. Both of these examples happened in Texas. My friend in Kansas was in between jobs within the past year. He hurt his arm and explained his job status. They gave him coverage that lasted for a year; it paid 100 percent of his medical needs. These stories give truth to the adage, "Ask and you shall receive." Here are more thoughts on the matter. http://understandthetruth.blogspot.com/2008/09/subsidizing-pride-with-taxes-reasons.html. One more example, my mom got 100 percent medical coverage for everything but prescriptions which were a $3 copay at MD Anderson because she applied for financial aid. This required truthfulness and humbleness and a lot of forms to fill. "Ask and you shall receive; seek and you shall find." That is somewhere in the Bible.