Roy Posted August 10, 2004 Report Share Posted August 10, 2004 Well, this disease has not only ruined me physically it has now destroyed me financially. I went through the last part of the bankruptcy process today. I am now free from 195k in medical debt, but now I am worried about future bills. I just had a 3k ambulance ride/ER visit during my filling process. I was lucky to get that one in before my filing deadline. I will now be stuck with any future ER and doctor bills. I can no longer charge my meds. I don't know what I am going to do about that. My EP, the only doctor who vaguely understands my case, will no longer see me becuase I wiped out his bills, but they were large bills though. Anyone else stuck in this rut? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ethansmom Posted August 10, 2004 Report Share Posted August 10, 2004 Roy,I am sorry to hear all of this...I have not reached that point yet, but I just wanted to lend some support. It is extremely frustrating when this illness begins to take over what feels like every single aspect of our lives...our careers, families, education, relationships, finances...whatever it may be. But try to remember that no matter what happens, you can recover from this setback and move on. I wish you the best Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomtoGiuliana Posted August 10, 2004 Report Share Posted August 10, 2004 Roy--I am so sorry for all you have been though, physically, mentally and financially. I think all of us have been affected financially by this illness in some way. I was out of work for a year. Fortunately, I have an able-bodied husband. And, my employer's disability insurance kicked in and I got an award of a whopping $3,600. Thankfully, we also had excellent health insurance, that is now very expensive b/c I am part-time and paying the entire premium, and I cannot get any other insurance due to POTS.Have you tried to get SS Disability?Our society is so focused on working and so many of us are literally working ourselves into poor health. We also don't take good care of our frail and ill in this country. It is a sign of a society in some level of break-down, I think.I hope things improve for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MightyMouse Posted August 10, 2004 Report Share Posted August 10, 2004 Hi Roy, I've been fortunate that I'm still able to work. However, my sister had to declare bankruptcy several years ago after the birth and eventual death of her daughter. The bills exceeded a million dollars after a diagnostic work up including an echocardiogram that ended in a lifeflight ride from their sububan hospital to NYC (about an hour), multiple heart surgeries & 3 months in the NICU.If you've not applied for SS / Medicare you really should consider it. It's a long and tiring process, but once you've completed it, you'll have more options. Also, depending on the state you live in, they may have some special services. Where I live, I can get free transport to appointments and special medical coverage.There are subsidized prescription plans and also some companies have plans where they provide certain meds for free.Perhaps some of the board members have looked into these things and can provide some web resources. You may want to look into some of the disability law and advocacy websites also as they might have info on this topic that you'd find useful.Nina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Sawicki Posted August 10, 2004 Report Share Posted August 10, 2004 Here's one online resource that I know of:http://www.helpingpatients.org/index.cfmHope this helps!Michelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackwolf Posted August 11, 2004 Report Share Posted August 11, 2004 Dear Roy, don't feel so bad. We didn't file for bankrupsy but we lost our house, one car, horses and cattle and many friends when we were forced to move to another town. I agree with the others, if your symptoms aren't calming down, file for SSDI or what ever help you can get. It is a lot of work, but in the end it is worth it. Search out your state Advocacy group and they can help, try the Vocational Rehab group to.Good luck, Balckwolf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brwneyedchica Posted August 11, 2004 Report Share Posted August 11, 2004 At one point I had $30,000 in medical bills, and that was the remainder that insurance did not cover. I was very young at the time and my parent's were able to divide the bills and pay them. I'm not sure if this is any help but when you are admitted into the hospital and you meet certain requirements, you may be eligible for medicaid. I work in a hospital and on my unit the social worker starts the paperwork for that. The patient is rated according to how much savings they have and whatever income they might have. Then as far as I know you pay according to what you can afford. Perhaps you can check into goverment funded programs like that. Than you could help keep the bills from piling up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MightyMouse Posted August 11, 2004 Report Share Posted August 11, 2004 I can tell you that I got NO discount on my bills from my surgeries, despite the fact that I had ZERO savings, was out of work for a year and living on state disability payments. I still have thousands upon thousands in outstanding medical bills--to the hospital, to the anesthesia group, to the radiology group, etc. I pay a little to each provider each month, even if it's just a few bucks. As long as you make regular payments you may not be sent to collections. The providers still call and harass me every couple of months to tell me I still have a huge balance...to which I say "I've never missed a payment." And we usually leave it at that. One threatened to send me to collections just last week--to which I said "I've never missed a payment" ...and they said, well you haven't sent anything for three months since we stopped sending you bills...to which I replied "I have more than 17,000$ in outstanding medical debt and did not notice one missing bill; I never missed a single payment when you were sending bills. Perhaps you should continue to send them so that I can continue to pay you." End of phone call Nina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ethansmom Posted August 11, 2004 Report Share Posted August 11, 2004 Nina- I love the way you handled that! Great responses I'd been dealing with Mayo Clinic harassing me over the money I owed them for the past 3 years, which my insurance should've paid long ago, and they finally paid off the balance this past week...I was sooo happy to see justice served!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgan617 Posted August 11, 2004 Report Share Posted August 11, 2004 so sorry roy, we've met catostrophic limits on ins two years in a row. we had to get a cheaper car, move, and live off credit cards waiting for disability. we live paycheck to paycheck and sometimes pray they don 't go through before hubby's check. it totally *****. my didsabilty isn't much, but it's better than nothing. so try for that. next year i should get medicare, oh boy. that will surely help...not. our premiums are awful too. but we just plug along like everyone else i guess... morgan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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