I recently went to the hospital because I was experiencing severe stomach pain. I was admitted, gave a urine sample, answered a few questions from the doctor, and then was discharged. A few days later, I received a bill for $9,000 and I have no idea what to do.
I don’t have insurance. I know that going to the hospital without it in America is basically asking for financial disaster, but I genuinely thought my appendix was gonna burst. The pain was that bad. What makes it worse is that I left without any real answers about what was wrong.
Now I’m stuck with a $9,000 bill that I simply cannot afford. I'm so pissed. Even if it were cut in half, I still wouldn’t be able to pay it. I’m overwhelmed and honestly have no idea what my options are.
I am nineteen and cannot afford my 9k medical bill
byu/AnyReplacement7611 inpersonalfinance
Posted by AnyReplacement7611
34 Comments
The first thing to do is to talk to the hospital and apply for charity relief
Call the hospital. They have payment plans and charity discounts.
Then think about insurance. How much do you make and where do you live? Do your parents work jobs that have insurance and do you talk to them?
Try to apply for Medicaid if all else fails make payment arrangements you can literally pay 50 a month if that’s all you can do
Call the hospital and explain that you are uninsured and need an itemized bill. This will lower your bill substantially. Then you need to ask for charity relief on the new, lower bill that you receive. Then for whatever is remaining after that, ask to be put on a repayment plan that is very low, something you can afford (like I’m talking $25 a month or something low). Then pay that however long until it’s gone.
MOST of this bill will go away just by asking. The rest you can reduce to a reasonable payment. It’ll be okay. I’m glad you’re not very sick.
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Ask for reduced prices due to hardship, if that doesn’t work ask for an itemized bill then dispute and eventually go on a payment plan if you have to
Work? Get a loan? You have to pay it buddy
This happened to my sister (the bill, not the diagnosis). She called the hospital and they had a fund to cover uninsured patients. I would recommend that you call the hospital billing, explain your situation and see if they have a way to have your bill taken care of.
Get in contact with the hospital. Depending on your income, they can also sign you up for emergency medical insurance through the state.
Just don’t pay the bill and see if you qualify for any insurance or discounts.
Hospitals don’t expect to collect much or anything from the uninsured at the ED. Call them up and offer something like $1000, and a payment plan if needed. Remember even if you had insurance, you would have a deductible but they would have a lower rate.
Tell them you just got here from Venezuela.
Did your parents include you under their insurance?
Under the ACA you can be covered under your parents health insurance until age 26, but only if they included you in the paperwork.
Talk to the hospital. They won’t say “ok you don’t owe as anything” but they will work with you. They will probably drop it somewhat and also give you a no-interest payment plan.
First take a deep breath, it will all be okay. Second as many have already stated call them and let them know that you are uninsured. They can’t provide assistance if they don’t know.
Just call them tell them you have no money they may ask for proof, submit it and debt will be cleared
They didn’t do an ultrasound or didn’t even take a blood test? Were you discharged with the pain? What was the diagnosis ? This story makes little sense.
How can you not have an insurance? If you are too poor can’t you get a free one from your state?
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call billing department after itemized bill and ask for prompt pay discount. They can knock off 40-50% if you pay right there and then. I had a $7500 bill and offered them to give me a 40% discount and I’d pay that day. They agreed immediately. Offer that you can only pay 50% as a prompt pay discount and that’s all you can afford. Don’t do payment plan bc you’ll be stuck with the whole $9000 bill. So I’d try that. Start at 50% they might counter down to 40% off. If you don’t have the money get a personal loan for like $5000 at a way lower APY than a credit card and negotiate that prompt pay discount. Use the loan money to pay off the bill.
You can also just not pay it. Work out a payment plan on your own time. They can’t jail you, they won’t garnish your wages. Talk to billing and find out what they say. Tell them calmly you can’t pay and they’ll refer you where you need to be referred to sort it all out. Pay $50 a month forever like many people do, including myself and I have good insurance, more or less.
Definitely call financial services at the hospital.
Talk to the hospital. They have staff built specifically to do this.
There’s a very real chance that you’ll get the whole thing tossed out.
Source: Coming from my wife who is a nurse in California and says that it happens all the time on hospital bills like this. They’ll spend more than it’s worth trying to collect.
The real question is what’s stopping you from being insured?
Step 1 is contacting hospital and requesting charity relief, practically all Us hospitals have this. The number for their financial assistance people should be on the bill itself.
Step 2 get insurance (should have been step 1, but it’s too late now). Either through your job, or through state or whatever.
Go to the hospital, talk to their department that handles payment plans and “charity.” Tell them you cannot pay the bill and are not likely to be able to pay it any time soon. You are uninsured and 19 and clearly not making much—if any—money.
Your results may vary, but my sister had a $10,000 bill from a hospital when she was unemployed and she went to the hospital and told them straight up there was no way for her to pay it. They wrote it down to $0 on the spot. Again, it may not happen for you, but they can probably work with you somehow.
For other folks without insurance, this is what you risk by not having it. My 23 yo has ACA insurance, $50, a month.
Lesson learned I hope. Any time you go to the hospital, expect this type of bill. You should be upfront with the staff, explain your financial situation and that you will be self pay. Apply for relief from the start, but as others have noted, you can still do this post visit.
My guess is they will shave it down to around 1k and let you make payments on a plan. Might even wipe it out fully.
You just been hit with the biggest legal scam, called the medical monopoly..ugh
Hospitals often have CHARITY set aside for patients without insurance that are unable to pay. Contact the BILLING department and ask what’s involved with requesting charity for your bill. They will, most likely, have you fill out an application, and provide a copy of your tax return from last year, and possibly a current payroll receipt. I once had a $2k ER visit bill reduced to $50.
My experience is that is that if this is a public hospital they should have a financial relief policy. When you call the person you speak with is not incentivized at all to make you pay, so they are usually pretty understanding people. If you get one that isn’t call back the next day and you might get someone different.
If you had insurance, the insurance company would have paid them far less than $9,000 because of negotiated rates. At the very best this is what they would hope to get from you. At best they will have a way for you to submit how much you make and they will give you a break on a sliding scale.
If this gets sent to collections the hospital might only get a few hundred dollars, and they know that is what will happen if they don’t make a deal with you. Whatever you have right now, tell them that all you have and see if that will cover it. Be nice, and let the know you really wish you could pay but you can’t. Beas mad as you want, but BE NICE to them.
They also will likely have a payment plan. I am on a 1 year interest free payment plan right now, and I didn’t even qualify for aid.
Maybe you can get it down to a $100 or something per month.
What state are you in? This is extremely important. If you’re in ny state or co then congratulations you don’t own anything.
Do not pay any of this using a credit card. As long as the balance is still with the hospital, they can work with you. If you pay it using a credit card, as far as the hospital is concerned the bill has been paid and you lose all your negotiating leverage.
Apply for medical assistance and or food stamps they go back a certain amount of time. That’s the only bit of advice I know
Call the billing department. Discuss not having insurance and make a payment plan