Being Sick is Expensive: Medical Bills

For a twenty-something-year-old grad student without any income, I have had appointments with too many doctors in the past couple of months. I got to the point where I didn't care how expensive my medical bills were going to be because I was sick and was feeling horrible.

One frustrating thing about medical bills is that I wouldn't know how much I was being charged until a few weeks after seeing the doctor or getting a procedure done. Aside from being sick, I even had to worry about checking my mail since I knew the bill was coming.

So naturally, when I got my first, my first (SIGH), medical bill, from a lab, I couldn't believe how much I owed them. It was from a visit that I didn't find helpful at all in any way (and in retrospect, really wasn't helpful), and I owed them around $300 (even after the first adjustment)? But guess what? YOU CAN NEGOTIATE YOUR MEDICAL BILLS (it does not always work but it's worth a try). Luckily this place attached a form where I could make a request for an income-based adjustment for the bill (medical offices usually don't, maybe this place did because it's a lab). It was a simple process. I filled out the form, scanned it, and sent it to them via e-mail. Then I called them a week later and found that I was eligible for a 98% reduction on my bill. 

I got another bill saying that I owed them around $250 for my procedures. So I called the billing department to see what they could do for me. I asked them if they could adjust my bill but the person on the phone said that the adjustments were already made. I asked a lot more questions to attempt to get some sort of adjustment, but I was not successful. I felt embarrassed because having to ask for discounts and admitting that I have financial issues to a stranger on the phone was not an easy thing to do. I gave up after a few tries and paid half of my bill. After this, I soon found an article written by Shannon Insler with great negotiation tips for medical bills as I started researching for this post (wish I saw this before this morning). Please check this article out before you make any phone calls to talk about your medical bills: https://studentloanhero.com/featured/how-to-pay-medical-bills-you-cant-afford/. I am definitely going to try these tips the next time I have to pay my medical bill.

I'm still waiting for few more bills to arrive in the mail. I get a mini heart attack whenever I check my mail and see an envelope from a medical office, but I believe that I will get through this. I hope everyone is well and if you are not, you know you are not alone in this shit hole of sickness with a pile of medical bills (I'm with you guys). Everyone, stay healthy!