Medical Debt

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/08/28/ep.medical.debt/index.html

A 2007 poll shows 28% of families are paying off medical debt. Here are some helpful links from CNN:

As soon as he received the whopping bill from the hospital, the Trims contacted Maurer, the medical billing advocate. To find an advocate, visit the http://www.billadvocates.com/FINDANADVOCATE/tabid/69/Default.aspx Medical Billing Advocates of America. http://www.hospitalvictims.org/victims.asp The Fairness Foundation and the http://www.debtadvice.org/takethefirststep/locator.cfm" National Foundation for Credit Counseling also offer help to those in debt.

 

There are an abundance of organizations to help people financially strapped with medical debt, but you have to seek them out.

http://www.patientadvocate.org/report.php The Patient Advocate Foundation has a state-by-state directory of financial resources. The foundation also has a program for http://www.copays.org/ "co-pay relief" (if your co-pay is, say, 20 percent, 20 percent of a $200,000 hospital bill is a lot of money).

Of course, it's best to avoid medical debt in the first place. If you don't have insurance, take this http://www.coverageforall.org/finder/index.php eligibility quiz to find out whether you qualify for low-cost public health insurance programs. The group Coverage for All also offers a http://www.coverageforall.org/our_services.htm#apps state-by-state guide of health-care choices and has a http://www.coverageforall.org/our_services.htm#call help line open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Department ofHealth and Human Services has a http://www.insurekidsnow.gov/ guide to low-cost insurance programs especially for children.

If you have insurance, make sure it pays every penny it owes. See this Empowered Patient on http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/07/19/patient.insurance/index.html challenging insurance company denials, and remember the golden rule: appeal, appeal, appeal. "Don't take a 'no' from the customer service representative on the other end of the 800 number," Rukavina of the Access Project said. "Always issue a complaint or grievance."

Got a comment or an idea for a future Empowered Patient column? We'd love to hear from you. Talk to us at empoweredpatient@cnn.com