The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Hospital bills, and paying for them when broke
Jebus314
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So I am going to try and keep this concise. I am trying to help out my parent-in-laws. What I need most is to find someone who knows the ins and outs of paying for long term illnesses with a small income and no work provided health insurance. Like who would that be? An accountant? A lawyer? How would I find a reputable one? This is in oregon. ACA will probably be involved somehow.
If you are one of those people, or if you have some experience then let me give some background, and any/all tips are welcome. I wont go into any hospital details since my wife is super private and there is a non zero chance she knows about this forum and my use of it. What I can say is that my father-in-law used to be the majority bread winner, and my mother-in-law has always worked part time. Now my father-in-law can no longer work pretty much any job outside of their house, and will be incurring hospital bills for probably the rest of his life. My mother-in-law's income is not large enough to afford most private insurance (especially considering the massive pre-existing condition my father-in-law has). They obviously don't have enough money to just pay the bills outright. The best solution would be for my mother-in-law to seek full time employment (preferably at a government job with their sweet, sweet benefits), but at 50+ years of age, with no college degree, it's a tough sell. What other options are there for broke people with large hospital bills?
If you are one of those people, or if you have some experience then let me give some background, and any/all tips are welcome. I wont go into any hospital details since my wife is super private and there is a non zero chance she knows about this forum and my use of it. What I can say is that my father-in-law used to be the majority bread winner, and my mother-in-law has always worked part time. Now my father-in-law can no longer work pretty much any job outside of their house, and will be incurring hospital bills for probably the rest of his life. My mother-in-law's income is not large enough to afford most private insurance (especially considering the massive pre-existing condition my father-in-law has). They obviously don't have enough money to just pay the bills outright. The best solution would be for my mother-in-law to seek full time employment (preferably at a government job with their sweet, sweet benefits), but at 50+ years of age, with no college degree, it's a tough sell. What other options are there for broke people with large hospital bills?
"The world is a mess, and I just need to rule it" - Dr Horrible
Jebus314 on
0
Posts
Is this a general thing? Like should they just call up the billing office and say, we need some financial aid? Is there a specific program involved? Thanks
Yes, absolutely. Most hospitals can direct you to a variety of resources or setup a payment plan. Better to have some or all over a period of time than none ever.
Yeah, they're pretty last-resortish.
^ This ^
If your father in law is old enough to be covered by Medicaid, that's by far his best option for paying the medical bills.
So long story short, whose the expert on these types of things? Basically whose the spacekungfuman of hiding poor peoples money.
They have some form of insurance now. It's just that when the condition came around he was on his employers insurance. He had to quit because he can't work, and so he had to get private insurance with this huge condition on the table. So their insurance has unreal deductibles, costs a shit load, and doesn't cover everything he needs. Thus the massive spending. It's unsustainable, but there doesn't seem to be any better options out there for insurance. Thus this thread.
That makes more sense. As previous people have said their first call should be to the hospital, they are more than willing to work with people about repayment. If there are medications they have trouble paying for then the drug companies usually have some form of patient assistance programs available. I worked at a hospital where they had their own "insurance" where you were charged based upon your income. There may be some sort of financial counselor they can get an appointment with at the hospital they are seen at. If they don't have one there then they may want to go to a different hospital that handles indigent patients.
I have no idea what Medicare/Medicaid spend down rules are like, but you should look them up. I am sure that there is some amt of cash exempted from spend down requirements just as there is a household exemption.
A lot of places inflate their costs for insurance companies - when they remove the markup - its decidedly much more affordable.
Medicaid is poor-person coverage, and SSI is disability insurance. SSI is almost certainly the better bet, especially with all that cash in the bank.