Common Mistakes with Medical Bills
Your health and that of your family members is very important. Unfortunately, there are instances wherein it causes us to go deep in debt.
Your health and that of your family members is very important. Unfortunately, there are instances wherein it causes us to go deep in debt. This happens when a sudden illness or condition affects us or someone we love. If we do not have health insurance or worse, a steady income to get funds from, we end up having that dreaded medical bill that is an added stress to an already dire situation.
But what can you do when you are deep in medical bills? If the hospital, physician or healthcare institution sent you a medical bill that you have no chance of paying for? What then can you do?
Common Errors in Medical Bills
Before you scramble and rack your brains for possible solutions, check the details on the bill first. Make sure that you will be paying for only what you owe. Here are some of the common mistakes that can be found on medical bills.
Service charges not rendered. Check your medical records and compare it with the bill sent to you. Sometimes, details like blood tests or administered medications do not tally.
Double billing. Check the number on the bill and make sure it is not a billing that was previously sent to you and settled in full.
Billed for medical services that failed. If you were given two blood tests because the first was in error by the medical practitioner, you should not be billed for the second test.
Wrong medication prices. Cross check any medication prices as human computer encoding errors can cause you to pay for more than what you should.
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
When you are certain that the details are correct and in order, you can seek medical debt relief if the amount is still something that you will have a hard time paying for.
Debt relief is a good option to help you pay off your debts. Through a debt negotiator, your creditors could lower your outstanding balance and waive off a percentage of that amount. You can also be free from high interest rate charges and late penalty fees.
But you should be aware that there are various options to make sure that your medical bills are low in the first place. Here are some of them.
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.
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