Have Medical Bills? Here's What To Do!

Posted by Austin Swim on Jul 1, 2014 5:33:53 PM

If you're underwater on your medical bills, just need guidance, or want to know how you may be able to pay LESS money you've come to the right place.

There are a few things one can do to take the upper hand on dealing with medical bills, in such a frustrating situation. Let's start with what you can do to protect yourself and then go over what you can do when you need immediate assistance.

1. Prevention

Be clear about costs before you undergo a procedure. Try to gather as much detail as possible, to provide color on your procedure and get a best estimate available. The doctor, clinician, or therapist may even be able to point you in the right direction if you can't afford the standard rate. There are charitable organizations and non-profits which take care of just this type of thing.

2. A doctor's note gives you medicare

If your doctor deems necessary and you go to a medicare eligible inpatient care facility, you may be eligible for medicare. Under the Section A, one could get up to 190 days of inpatient care for mental health problems. After the 190 days are up, a person would be forced to go to a general hospital for any excess time needed.

find a full breakdown here

3. Paying cash saves you money.

It's not for everybody, for sure, but consider paying cash up front for your medical bills. Credit cards bring large processing fees and headaches for health officials. Larry Gel, CEO of heath care advocacy firm says you may be able to negotiate down the price by 40% [source: cbsnews.com] by leaving your plastic at home.

After the fact

1. Get help on your itemized medical bills. Heath care advocates can be very helpful in helping you negotiate your bill down to something more reasonable. The problem with these types of organizations is they may take up to a 30% of the amount saved [source: nolo.com] so just be weary about that.

2. Talk with a  credit counselor. Talk with a credit counselor to help get set up with an assessment, budget, and even get help organizing a payment plan with your medical provider. [source: nolo.com]

3. File a grievance with your insurance company. Once it is known what the insurance company is prepared to pay, and if it's too low to cover costs, you may want to submit an official grievance to get the reasoning behind the small amount and force their hand to pay more.

Rest assured that despite complicated procedures and codes of medical bills, Elevated Billing strives to be the most fair and affordable behavioral health billing solution available to you. Elevated works with only the very best behavioral health facilities and takes pride in making rehab possible for people. Check Elevated Billing Solutions out for more information about what we do.