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Medical bill book format for Support

did you know that medical debt is the number one cause of bankruptcy in the United States if you're worried about a pile of medical bills this video is for you as many of you already know my family has been facing some serious medical challenges recently my daughter was hospitalized and we've been in and out of different specialty offices all year it's been exhausting expensive and to be honest absolutely terrifying one minute you're focused on your child's health and the next you're drowning in paperwork and wondering how you're ever going to pay for all of this I get it I know that many of you have been there too facing a Health crisis while also worrying about the mountain of bills piling up it's a struggle that no one should have to face alone but here's the thing I've learned that we have way more power than we think we do in this video I'm going to share some Insider tips and strategies to help you navigate the system avoid unnecessary costs and even find some incredible Financial relief that can wipe out those bills for you so stay tuned because this information could make a huge difference for you and your family but before we get into the details I need to make sure that we're all on the same page here so let's start with the basics why are medical bills so darn confusing in this country well it's a mix of insurance jargon complex codes and honestly A system that wasn't designed with the average person in mind this is a game built for lawyers and shareholders and insurance companies not everyday people who actually need to use those benefits and it sucks so let's start with a few key terms that are the foundation of most conversations on Healthcare and insurance right so your premium is what you pay every month for your health insurance whether you use it or not it's like a membership fee to keep your insurance active but it doesn't cover the cost of your care at all to actually use your insurance you're going to end up paying even more the deductible is the amount that you need to pay out of pocket before your insurance starts paying anything for example example if your deductible is $1,000 you will need to pay that amount first before your insurance even kicks in to start covering costs depending on your policy you may also have a co-pay your co-pay is the fixed amount that you pay when you visit your doctor for example you might have to pay $25 every time you go to a doctor's visit and then your insurance covers the rest but that's not all some policies also require you to pay what's called co- Insurance that's a percentage of the bill that you're responsible for after your deductible is met so if you've hit your deductible and you have a 20% Co Insurance you'll still have to pay 20% of the cost of your Medical Treatments even if you've hit your deductible now all of this can obviously add up very quickly especially when you're going through a medical crisis that requires you to see a lot of different providers and Specialists my daughter and I have been spending a lot of time in different Medical Offices lately and the sheer amount of bills and policies and loopholes has just been absolutely dizzying fortunately our insurance also has a catastrophic cap that's the the absolute maximum that our family will pay out of pocket in a calendar year I have never been so grateful for that part of our policy before but on the flip side many insurance policies also have what's called an allowed amount this is the maximum amount that your insurance company will pay for a particular service if your doctor charges more than the allowed amount you might have to pay the difference and that's called balance billing balance billing is when a provider bills you for the difference between what they charge and what your insurance will cover and that usually happens if you see a provider or visit a hospital that is out of network and it can be a big surprise out of network means that your provider doesn't have a contract with your insurance company and that means they will charge you a lot more through balance billing this one is a huge trap seriously I cannot stress this enough always always always check if your doctor or hospital is in network before you go you could end up with a massive surprise Bill if you don't now that we've built that Foundation it's time to talk about what you can do about all of this I know it's easy to feel like the insurance companies and the medical providers have all of the Power here but there is still a lot you can do to help keep your costs down and get help with those medical bills so the first step is to make sure that you aren't paying for charges that you shouldn't owe in the first place honestly this part makes my blood boil there are so many hidden charges mistakes and errors that can show up on your bills and you shouldn't have to pay those but a lot of people end up paying them anyway because they don't know so let's start off with something that catches so many of us off guard surprise charges these are the charges you didn't expect or didn't fully understand and they can add up fast leaving you feeling completely blindsided so how can you avoid this happening to you first be aware of the common culprits out of network providers are a big one even if the hospital is in network some of the doctors who work there might not be it's frustrating and it's important that you always double check administrative fees are another big one hospitals can charge you for things like using the operating room medical records and even just basic office supplies these fees can add up quickly unexpected tests or procedures are another big one sometimes you might need a test or a procedure that wasn't originally planned so make sure that you understand why the doctor is doing what they're doing and make sure it's necessary and what the cost will be now the best way to avoid surprise charges is to stay proactive and check everything you should never assume your bill is correct just because it's from a hospital or an insurance company don't accept it at face value it's up to you to make sure that everything is right that's why it's always important to ask for an itemized Bill don't settle for a summary an itemized bill will give you a detailed breakdown of every single charge so that you can see exactly what you're being built for without it you could end up paying for things that you didn't even receive and we'll talk more about that in a minute once you have your itemized bill you need to compare it with your insurance statements you should receive an explanation of benefits or an EOB from your insurance company the EOB will outline what your insurance has already paid and what's left for you to pay if there there's any discrepancy between what the insurance was built for and what you are being built for or if the insurance paid less than expected it's time to do some checking look at both documents carefully and scrutinize every charge look for duplicate charges incorrect codes and services that you didn't actually receive this is where that EOB comes in very handy I can't tell you how many times I found things on our bills that shouldn't have been there it's frustrating but it's important to stop that from happening to you now unfortunately medical billing errors and fraud are becoming all too common just last year a group of 10 companies over bu Medicare billions of dollars for catheters that were never needed one person 72-year-old Tom England in Texas found that his Medicare account had been charged for over $88,000 for urinary catheters he never ordered this is part of a massive fraud scheme that has cost Medicare over $3 billion in recent years but if you aren't checking your bills you may not notice that this is happening to you so now let's talk about how you can fight back you may not know this but you have the right to dispute any charges on your medical bill that seem incorrect unfair or just flat out wrong I know that can feel intimidating but trust me it's your right and it's something that you can absolutely do the first step is to contact your insurance company if you notice something on your bill that doesn't match your EOB or that doesn't seem right call them explain the error clearly and calmly ask for clarification be polite but persistent if they're not helpful don't give up ask to speak to a supervisor or file a formal complaint complaint make sure that you understand what they're paying for and why they're not covering the full amount if they made a mistake they can correct that next reach out to the hospital billing department hospitals are often willing to negotiate especially if they realize that you're paying attention you can ask for discounts or a payment plan and if you've been overcharged or billed for services that you didn't receive they should correct that for you be polite but persistent you'll notice that this is a recurring theme today now one thing I cannot stress enough is to keep good documentation keep detailed records of all of your Communications with both the insurance company and the hospital this means recording the dates times and names of the people you spoke to and what was said if you're talking on the phone always ask for written confirmation documentation is your best friend when it comes to fighting medical bills trust me I've been there back in 2019 I had to fight a significant hospital bill that we didn't owe the cost should have been fully covered by my husband's insurance and I had proof that they had already authorized the stay but when the bill came they refused to pay it the hospital tried to force us to cover almost $10,000 when the insurance refused and it took hours of back and forth conversations between the insurance and the hospital but we kept track of every call every email and the names of everyone we spoke to it took a little time but eventually my documentation ensured that we didn't have to pay that money ourselves now here's something else that can make a huge difference when you're feeling overwhelmed consider contacting a patient advocate a patient advocate is someone who specializes in helping you navigate the billing and insurance systems they know the ins and outs of medical bills and they can help you negotiate lower rates or contest charges if you're feeling lost in the process or just don't have the time or energy to fight on your own a patient advocate can be a real Lifesaver many hospitals and offices have Advocates on staff you can also reach out to the Patient Advocate Foundation for free one-on-one support you can reach them at patient advocate. org once we know that your charges are legit it's time to talk about financial assistance options if you're feeling overwhelmed by medical bills it's important to know that there are several programs and resources available to help you so don't give up hope because help is out there one powerful option you might not know about is retroactive Medicaid what is that essentially if you qualify for Medicaid you can get your medical bills paid for up to 3 months before you applied in certain States here's how this works let's say you didn't have Medicaid at the time you received care but you did qualify at the time you just hadn't applied yet Medicaid can retroactively cover bills for up to three months prior to your approval it is a huge relief especially if you were dealing with big medical expenses during that time this was a lifesaver for my family once many years ago our son was accidentally injured and we didn't have health insurance he ended up requiring a surgery that cost over $20,000 money that we definitely did not have the hospital encouraged us to apply for Medicaid and it completely covered our hospital bill even though the accident happened before we we even applied it was incredible to apply you'll need to fill out the regular Medicaid application for your state once approved you can ask Medicaid to cover past bills but keep in mind that not all states offer retroactive Medicaid but many do so it never hurts to ask and you just need to check with your local Medicaid office for more details next if you received Care at a nonprofit hospital they are required to offer financial assistance programs often called charity care these programs can significantly reduce or even eliminate your medical bills eligibility requirements do vary but generally if your income is below a certain level you may qualify in many cases you can earn up to four or five times the federal poverty level and still qualify for charity care it is amazing but hospitals are not always very forthcoming with this information so to apply you'll need to reach out to the billing department at the hospital you'll need to ask them specifically about financial assistance or charity care they're probably going to ask you for proof of income and other financial documents but don't be intimidated many hospitals will be willing to work with you especially if you're facing financial hardship another resource that can really help is patient assistance funds these are special programs that help pay for prescription or treatment costs for people with certain healthc care conditions for example if you have Cushing's Disease you may qualify for up to $3,800 a year from the pan Foundation to help pay for your medications there are tons of different patient assistance funds out there you can check websites like panf foundation.org TC cares.org and patient advocate. org's copay Relief Fund to get started and of course depending on what medications you need you may also be eligible for additional financial assistance from the manufacturer too ABV and others have Assistance programs that are designed to help people with limited incomes and no health insurance get the medications they need and of course if all of these steps don't work for you then please don't forget that payment plans are an option in many cases hospitals are willing to set up interest free payment plans to help you pay off your medical bills over time but here's the thing don't assume that the first offer you get is going to be the best one if you're offered a payment plan don't hesitate to negotiate it if the payment amounts are too high try to negotiate for a lower monthly payment or a longer repayment term medical providers would usually rather work with you than risk not getting paid at all now let's talk about something that's often a big concern for people facing medical debt your credit score it is true that unpaid medical bills can negatively impact your credit making it harder to get loans rent an apartment get a job and so on but the good news is that there have been some recent changes to credit reporting that are designed to help consumers who can't pay their medical bills medical debt under $500 is not reported anymore the three main credit bureaus have agreed not to report that debt if it's under $500 and this is a huge relief for many people with smaller medical debts in fact Equifax estimates that this change immediately removed like 70% of medical collection debt debt from credit reports now it takes a lot longer for unpaid medical debt to show up on your credit report now too you have a year to address the debt before it affects your credit which gives you more time to work with providers and insurance companies even better if you pay off a medical debt it will be removed from your credit report much faster than it used to be this means that once you settle your debt it won't drag down your credit for years on end and remember your credit score is important sure but it's not the only thing that matters your health and well-being come first so it's important to focus on getting the care that you need and then take steps to manage your medical debt later now I know that we've covered a lot of ground here but before we wrap up I want to give you some tips to help you avoid these billing headaches in the future here are some key tips to help you stay ahead of the game understand your insurance take the time to understand your insurance plan know what's covered what isn't and how much you'll have to pay for different Services the more you know upfront the less likely you are to be surprised by a bill later choose in network providers whenever possible always choose in network providers these are the Doctors Hospitals and Specialists that have agreements with your insurance company to offer services at a lower cost going out of network can result in much higher charges so always always double check before you book any appointments and then get cost estimates upfront before undergoing any procedures or tests don't hesitate to ask for a cost estimate many hospitals and providers will give you an estimate of what the treatment Tre M will cost based on your insurance it's always better to know in advance than to be surprised after the fact if I had known then what I know now I would have been much more proactive about understanding our insurance plan and getting cost estimates and things before my daughter's Hospital stay it would have saved us a lot of stress and potentially a lot of money too now I hope that this video has been helpful to you don't forget to check out our other videos for more ways to save money and get free stuff I'll see you there