Financial Horror Story

It was a cold, clammy, rainy pitch dark night and I was extremely distressed-- well, not really it was a beautiful hot although rainy night in Florida but I was distressed.

My wife was in pain and it had been two days that the flashing pain on the upper left side of her face had started and thankfully was tolerable with over the counter medication.

But I was at the edge of desperation and so was she, particularly because as a former medical doctor I had an almost 100% certainty that it was trigeminal neuralgia.

Still my doubts abounded. What if it was a tumor or a vascular compression etc., etc. --- I would never forgive myself.

So reluctantly we go to the dreaded "emergency room" and go through the routine questions, do you have insurance? The answer was a definitive "no ", "I can't afford insurance". Are you in pain and if so tell me in a scale of 1 to 10 how much? My wife was in pain, but just in case we wouldn't be ignored she answered a loud "ten".

Then, the long waiting period, which really was quite reasonable-- about an hour and her name was called out by a nice lady who showed us the way to a private cubicle perfectly outfitted for a medical consultation. A couple of more minutes and blood was drawn, an I,V catheter inserted just in case.

Tension was building up and the emergency physician enters and greeted us with a foreign accent, he was nice and cordial and asked how he could help and so on. I explained that I was a former MD and that I had an idea of what was happening. Let's hear it he said and I confidently said "trigeminal neuralgia", he nodded as if agreeing.

"You need a CAT SCAN and some medication; he said'' and left the room. Even if time is altered in this setting, I'm positive that the doctor visit including questioning and a quick physical took at most a quarter of an hour. Then to the CAT SCAN, another 10 minutes and it was over. Last but not least we were escorted to the observation room, full of ailing patients.

After waiting about 45 minutes a kind lady from the financial department inquired about my income, dependents etc. Everything so far, so good, except that she bluntly informed us that the bill was $3560 and that we had some options in order to get a discount.

At this point, immediately I also had a headache and asked to speak with someone to clarify my financials and explain that I didn't have that kind of money. We were taken to a financial counselor at about midnight and after haggling "I really mean begging" I had to sign an agreement to pay about $300 a month for a year. I just couldn't take it anymore and signed, got the papers and left.

The story has a nice ending because after about two weeks and a lot of phone calls we returned to the hospital to continue 'begging" and a miracle happened. Under charitable grounds our $3500 bill was dropped to zero.

I thanked once and again the counselor, but was informed I would also receive individual bill from the radiologist, emergency physician and laboratory for about $1500 more and that if deemed necessary, I could ask for a discount and maybe even a charitable waiver.

The bills started rolling in as follows:

Hospital services ER total bill: 3560.68

Itemized as follows:

Brain CAT scan: $1802 (with health insurance: $285)
LAB: $322 (with health insurance: $152)
MEDS: 1.68 (1 Carbamazepine tablet costs $0.12 even without health insurance)
LEVEL 4 EMERGENCY: $1435 (with health insurance: $2,363 Price is for an Emergency Department Visit. No overnight stay Includes imaging studies like x-ray, CT or MRI.)

Billed separately about two weeks after:

Emergency physician: $784 (with health insurance: $211).
That's about $3136 an hour considering the ER doctor took around 15 minutes to question and examines my wife. Even Bill Gates would raise his eyebrow with this hourly income.
Radiology diagnosis: $210.14 (with health insurance: I really don't know)
Laboratory diagnosis: Up to the present date I have not received it.

All the numbers are to illustrate the ridiculous gap of prices between without insurance (retail) and with insurance (wholesale). But were talking about human beings, not DVD players, aren't we?

I recently came by the million dollar question: why do hospitals charge such outrageous fees to the uninsured? The answer is very simple "because they can" and why can they? Because health insurance companies negotiate rock bottom prices before the fact-you won't be doing that bleeding in the ER.

But aren't the uninsured supposed to pay less because they can't afford to pay for health insurance? This statement makes sense, but in reality these poor wretched souls pay triple or more of the normal price tag for a given exam or service.

The way I see it, it's another "catch 22" applied to big and I really mean big business in which some companies paid its CEO $102 million in compensations in a given year.

How's this sound for a fact:

"Approximately 41.2 million Americans who don't have health insurance have to pay astronomically high healthcare bills out of their own pockets" and "for the years 2003 and 2004, just over 50 percent of all personal bankruptcies were the result of medical debt by those with health insurance ".

Just to round it up and stir some controversy, I remember Michael Moors movie "Sicko" in which an American patient lost two fingers in an accident and had to "choose" which to have re-implanted according to the humongous fees which ran into tens of thousands of dollars. "Ring or middle finger"?

Understanding Medical Bankruptcy

Most people are surprised to find that of the estimated $1.5 million bankruptcies that will be filed this year, 62% of them will be the direct result of medical issues. Even more surprising is the fact that of those filing for medical bankruptcy, over 80% actually had medical insurance. Despite this, they managed to rack up medical debts that approach almost $18,000! This is just $9,000 less than the amounts owed by individuals who filed for bankruptcy due to medical reasons that lacked medical insurance.

While $18,000 seems like a small amount of debt to cause a bankruptcy, part of the problem is the aggressive nature of the medical debt collection industry. When you default on a credit card debt, the chances of you being sued are actually quite slim. More likely is that the creditor will work with you to establish some sort of acceptable payment plan.

In contrast, medical debt collectors seem to prefer litigation. They will often file lawsuits in small claims court on amounts so small that most other lenders would have not even bothered. Since most people are not accustomed to dealing with lawsuits, it is no surprise that many people panic and resort to filing for bankruptcy protection.

What is a Medical Bankruptcy

Technically speaking, there is no such thing as a "medical" bankruptcy. The only kinds of personal bankruptcies are Chapter 7 bankruptcy and Chapter 13 bankruptcy. There is no distinction by the cause of a bankruptcy.

Generally speaking, however, a bankruptcy that is classified as medical is any bankruptcy that is filed due to medical reasons. This can be caused by excessive medical bills, or a loss of income due to illness. In some cases, it is even the result of an individual getting a second mortgage to cover their expenses. If medical issues were the direct cause of the bankruptcy, it can be referred to as a medical bankruptcy.

The Medical Bankruptcy Fairness Act of 2008

An act was introduced to Congress in 2008 which if passed, would provide a legal distinction for medical bankruptcies. This Act would exempt $250,000 of home equity for those filing bankruptcy due to medical reasons. It would also eliminate the means test for people filing bankruptcy due to medical conditions. This means that many individuals with medical debts that are now forced into Chapter 13 would be able to file for Chapter 7. The act also offers some relief to caregivers of the seriously ill.

Medical Bankruptcy - The Myth

President Obama has pointed to the number of people that file bankruptcy due to medical bills, stating that these people were either under insured or uninsured. This was one of the reasons he gave for the need for a standardized national health care system similar to Canada's. He used data that he probably considered accurate, so he can't actually be faulted, but new data shows that the original 2005 medical bankruptcy study was in error. Critiques published by David Dranove and Michael Millenson and a working paper by Aparna Mathur, with the American Enterprise Institute, have refuted this study and basically agree that the idea that large numbers of Americans are declaring bankruptcy due to medical expenses is a myth. The truth is that only about 17% of filers have medical bills as a contributing factor and if asked, somewhere around 12 to 13% would state that medical bills were a 'reason' for filing bankruptcy.

What this says is that the study that Mr. Obama used was flawed and that a standardized national health care system will have little to no impact on the number of bankruptcies being filed. The majority of bankruptcies will be filed for poor financial practices in the way of credit card debt and living beyond their means. Of course, in today's economy, that has also changed. It may have been true in 2005, but is not true now. People become unemployed and can't get another job or must accept a job paying much less and...here comes another bankruptcy. This year alone we are approaching one million homes being repossessed. Many of these same people will file bankruptcy. If they can't keep a roof over their head then they certainly cannot pay off miscellaneous debt.

In fact, Canada, being held up as an example for Mr. Obama's healthcare plan, saw personal bankruptcy rates higher than in the U.S. for both 2006 and 2007. This covers the time after the bankruptcy reform laws but prior to the onset of the 2008 economic recession. This is particularly important, since prior to the 2005 bankruptcy reform the differences between Canada and the U.S. were so different as to make comparisons between the two a moot point. Now, however, Canada's and the U.S.'s bankruptcy laws are similar enough to allow reasonable cross-border comparisons. It is also now true that after 2008 the comparisons cannot be valid because bankruptcy statistics are being skewed by other policies that are totally unrelated to healthcare.

One other point that is worth looking at, is that a large number of the 17% of bankruptcies filed for medical expenses were the result of experimental or cutting-edge treatments that were not covered by private insurance and that would not be covered by government insurance and are also not covered under Canada's healthcare program. In fact, research shows that Canada's numbers are very close to the U.S. in that about 15% of bankruptcies (filed by seniors 55 years and older) are for medical debt.

So, you can disregard the bogus information about medical bankruptcies when it comes to your feelings about a nationalized healthcare system. Of course, the first steps are already in place, but maybe we should also look to our northern neighbor, Canada, and learn from her experiences. Her residents don't necessarily feel that the national healthcare system is a good thing. And there is only one way to shove back at the government that has force-fed us this nationalized healthcare plan-VOTE!

How to Avoid Medical Bankruptcy Using Portable Heart Devices?

The increasing regulatory pressures in the hospital system are set to increase the cost of health care delivery to patients. Traditional care models relied on manual techniques to observe patients with chronic disease. This process is not only expensive, but also inefficient with errors.
In outpatient scenarios, the huge escalation in the incidence of long-term chronic conditions is placing an ever-greater burden on over-stretched resources. Patient care models today are ill-equipped to cope with the realities of tomorrows health demands.
In times of recession, many are filling for bankruptcy. Medical related bankruptcies are now dominating them. In a study published by the American Journal of Medicine in June 2009, it showed that health related issues left patients with highest medical expense due to chronic conditions like stroke. Around 92% of medically bankrupt patients, high medical bills were the major contributions to their bankruptcy.
Traditional approaches to health care management
This involves to wait for the disease to develop and then run to the health care provider for solutions. These solutions can be expensive with the use of wide array of diagnosing investigation. If the disease is already progressed, then the cost of treatment of these can be exorbitant.
Some of the scary statistics which come from various studies published in scientific journals show that that Health related expenses for stroke can be as high as $23. 380 per individual. The total cost of stroke to the United States is estimated at $43 billion per year. The direct costs of medical care and therapy are estimated at $28 billion per year. Indirect costs from lost productivity and other factors are estimated at $15 million per year. These facts about stroke are not meant to scare you or shock you. But they are real and you must be aware of them if you want to keep you and your family safe from deadly killer.
Best Solutions to manage your health.
There is a old adage that Apple a day keeps the doctor away. This is much more relevant in the current era. With recession looming all over the world, and business spending for employers cut, In the corporate world, 0. 25% of the companies cancel coverage, if an employee has disabling illness.
Prevention is the key for better health
To better manage these scenarios, it is quite vital that healthcare management begins at home. Adopting healthy lifestyle, by quitting smoking habits and excessive caffeine consumption. Maintaining a healthy diet with regular consumption of green leafy vegetable rich food and cutting down junk food.
Following Regular exercise programs like walking, r unning and jogging. Visiting health care professionals annually if above the age of 40 years for regular health check. In addition to the above, by using simple techniques like
1. Digital Weight scales to check your weight regularly and measure Body Mass Index.
2. Portable ECG/EKG devices to monitor heart rate and any changes in abnormal heart rhythms like Atrial Fibrillation.
3. Portable Hand Held Heart Rate Monitors to check your heart rate while jogging, walking or any sports related activities.
4. Body fat analyzer to check your body fat and analyze it your height and weight.
By following these simple techniques it is possible to avoid the long term high medical expenses for disease management, and also medical related bankruptcies in future.

Loopholes in Healthcare Necessitates Medical Bills Assistance

Do you know how much the U.S. federal government allocate for health expenses? It's nearly 20% of its total budget, nearly equal with military spending. Taken by itself, you may think it's considerable, but here's a few numbers and see if you can guess which country places a premium on medical bills assistance.

7 percent
1 percent
7 percent

Doesn't sound familiar? The first number refers to the health service budget by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the second is Iran, and the third is Pakistan. Except for the UAE, the latter two countries couldn't hold a candle to the United States in terms of resources yet their nationals pay less when they go to the hospital. In fact, the Vietnamese and Cubans have better per capita expenses when it comes to health care because of socialized medicine.

It's not to say that we go the route of socialism but there's a need to review the heavy reliance on private companies to take care of the nation's health. When that happens, the objective is not to provide the best medical bills assistance possible, but how the companies can eke out a profit at the expense of families whose choices have narrowed because of a medical condition.

The World Health Organization recognized the fallacy that the more resources you have, the better your health care would be. A survey in 2007 by the health agency revealed that nearly a quarter of third world countries across the globe earmarked 10% of total budget to health while 11 "high-income" countries earmarked less than that.

The United States is a perfect example of a state that plugs the leaks only when it sees water coming out. The adage, prevention is better than the cure, clearly doesn't work here. Sure, there may be free emergency health care but the point has always been to provide medical bills assistance on each and every family to make sure the situation doesn't worsen to a level that they really do need emergency help.

How A Universal Health Insurance Helps In Unpaid Hospital Bills

We've been hearing about the universal health insurance system being adopted by other First World countries and how it has successfully provided families with better medical care and helped them in their unpaid hospital bills. But what is exactly a universal insurance system?

Universal insurance of single payer insurance means the medical bill expenses are facilitated and paid for by one source using the money collected from its citizens through taxes and levies. The federal government itself can take that role of a health care provider or subcontract it to another corporate entity.

One misconception about universal insurance is that it is socialist in nature. The difference in the latter concept is that it is the government which owns and manages-and in some cases, profits-from the health facilities. Simply put, in a socialist environment, the government has its hands all over the system, from delivery of health care to collection of payments. Universal insurance, meanwhile, is just a mechanism where health care is delivered efficiently and without so much fuss.

You can still choose where you want to have your treatment. You can still continue to see your family doctor whom you are most comfortable with, or the hospital that knows your history and medical condition and in turn, would be able to provide you with the best opportunity to recover. You don't worry about unpaid hospital bills, including the medicines that are prescribed to you. On the off chance that you are interested how it works, the provider either pays the doctor's professional fee for each time you visit or the doctor is paid a hefty monthly salary using public money.

We've heard of the sob stories of families being turned out because they don't have the capacity to pay for their surgery or medical procedure. Under the present setup where co-pays and deductibles prevent families from going to the doctor unless it's absolutely necessary, which carries the danger of worsening the disease, you can go to the hospital for the most trivial of things precisely to avoid that from happening.

Under the single payer system, you don't have to worry about that regardless of whether you are poor, bankrupt, unemployed or a millionaire. Coverage will cut across sectors and social class. That means unpaid hospital bills will be a thing of the past. If you think universal health insurance is a pipe dream, consider that it's successfully implemented in Australia, Canada, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, among others.

Millions Of Families Need Help With Medical Bills, Now

It can't be denied that some medical providers do take advantage of the broken health system in order to eschew their obligation to pay the beneficiaries when the time comes to collect on their insurance. But we can't forget the other reasons as well why millions of American families need immediate help with medical bills.

Perhaps a large part of the blame goes to complacency, particularly the so-called middle class who are too well-off to avail of the government help with medical bills but too poor to avoid bankruptcy when a catastrophic disease hits. As a result, they are caught between a rock and a hard place. These families by the way comprise a large bulk of the underinsured because they rely too much on their employers haven't taken the time to study their respective policies.

Indeed, how many hours did you spend talking with your insurance companies about your concerns regarding your policy? In relation to this, how much time did you spend studying your policy in the first place?

It's incumbent upon you to know the ins and outs of your policy even prior to an emergency. Indeed, many of families still don't even know that, according to the principle of co-pay, any medical treatment expenses are taken out of your pocket until you reach a certain cap then the insurance company comes in. This is usually stated on your policy but without reading through the contract, you would have absolutely no idea about co-pay and its difference from deductible or co-insurance, for example.

Sadly, a stable job doesn't guarantee you a good insurance anymore as employers cut on insurance allocation to cope with the struggling economy. Scores of Americans had to choose to either keep their jobs or cut their insurance premiums. Most understandably choose the latter and pray to whatever higher deity they ascribe to that nothing happens to them or their families in the near future.

Hopefully there's a silver lining in the horizon. The good news is that the federal government under the Obama administration is seeking reforms in the health care industry. In the meantime, however, there's a lot of things we should do to assist the millions of American families who are scampering to seek help with medical bills as their savings wear thin.

Broken System = Millions Who Need Hospital Bills Help

Never in its rich history when the United States is dealing with so many families who need hospital bills help. A large part of the blame should go to its broken health system that seems to favor the insurance companies more than the policy holders; the haves more than the have nots. It's interesting that this is happening in what is arguably the remaining superpower in the world yet continues to perform poorly compared to other industrialized countries in terms of providing medical benefit to their poor constituents.

In this country, more than 40 million Americans have no insurance to speak of and there are millions more who are inadequately covered. Even if the federal government is spending more than $7,000 for each American, the number of deaths that would have been avoided hits 22,000 annually. Here's a worrying tidbit: the U.S. ranks 37th in World Health Organization's health system assessment.

Want to know which countries ranked ahead of the US? France leads the pack followed by Italy. The third, fourth and fifth though went to Andorra, San Marino, and Malta. It's safe to say that majority of Americans don't recognize the three countries

By the way, Principality of Andorra is located in southwestern Europe between France and Spain. Republic of San Marino is one of Europe's microstates just like Andorra. Republic of Malta, meanwhile, is located in southern Europe bounded by Sicily, Tunisia and Alexandria.

It could be argued though that the population of Andorra and San Marino of about 80,000 and 30,000, respectively are the main reasons why their governments can afford to provide hospital bills help, but what can account for the other densely populated nations ahead of the US? Countries like Spain, Singapore, Greece, Portugal, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Australia, Denmark, Sweden and Belgium, among others?

Even its south and central American neighbors like Colombia, Chile and Costa Rica outpaced the US in terms of health care. As you can see from the list, there's a lot of room for improvement as far as the US health industry is concerned. And the reforms should come sooner than later as more and more families need hospital bills help each passing minute that we don't do something.

Medical Bills Help With a Stellar Credit Standing

Good credit standing pays... all the time. This statement is especially true if you need some medical bills help. Such payables are quite urgent and if you need quick cash, you know that a very reliable option is to go to some lending institutions. If you don't savings and/or it's obviously not enough, then you should get a medical loan. Next thing to note is that the only way that you can get quick medical bills help is if you have a stellar credit standing.

Let's say you used a credit card early. Practice good discipline in meeting your monthly dues and payments. It's not just because you need to look good in the papers but also because the interest rates of such loans can be suffocating. Banks will really chase you up to the last cent, so be really responsible for this. Start borrowing small amounts, don't max out often, and pay your debts off on time. This way you can breathe easy and you will still have something to borrow in case actual emergencies-like medical bills-- come around.

If you don't have a credit card, look at other parts of your financial life which comprise bills such as electrical bills, apartment bills, internet bills and even gadgets, appliances or jewelry which you haven't paid out in full yet. Such records may reach the bank's or the financial institution's hands and it will get in the way of you getting your much needed medical bills help. There are also a lot of credit investigators who will really study your financial behavior extensively. Don't sabotage your approval by making petty mistakes. However, if you have done them already, be very vigilant in correcting them as soon as possible. You won't know when you're going to need your next medical loan; but it helps to be ready when the time arrives.

Health emergencies usually come unexpected. That is why you must always be ready for the financial typhoon that it may cause when it DOES arrive. Pay off your dues properly and if you can, also try to invest in liquid assets (assets which you can easily convert to cash). Medical bills help may come in the form of a loan from a financial institution like a lending company or a bank but if you're known to have a good credit score then you might avail of personal loans or cooperative loans which have relatively lower interest rates and looser payment schemes. Another perk of being a good payer, isn't it? Don't let those medical bills shake you.

Medical Debt Help: Beware of Junk Debt Buyers

Junk Debt Buyers are also known by the perfumed name debt acquisition companies. What these companies specialize in is to assume the debts due to bankruptcy, unpaid mortgages, settlement or medical bills. The intangible nature of debt makes it very easy for a company to trade it with another collection agency. This has become a problem in the United States although not much attention is given to it, again because nobody could keep track of what everybody is doing as the federal government struggles to keep the economy afloat. So if you suspect that you are dealing with a junk buyer, seek medical debt help immediately.

First and foremost, you can go to a lawyer. Trading debts is illegal in all states and your lawyer can petition the court anytime which would result in the dismissal of the collection case filed by the junk debt buyer against you.

As you can see, there's a lot of risks involved for the junk debt buyer. So how do you explain why the practice is still proliferating? The easy answer, of course, is they get away with it by pressuring families that they will be haled to court if they won't pay their obligations. Usually, families don't know that their medical bills have already been sold to a junk debt buyer.

Second, the legal system has several weak points that allows these junk debt buyers to continue with the illegal practice. Just to cite an example, once you fail to seek medical debt help and default on your payments, the hospital will send your case to a collection agency. When your debts are sold to another company, the collection agency is not mandated by law to report any transaction to the credit bureau, which would have nipped the practice in the bud. Other debts that are considered suspect is when it is under litigation as in the case of bankruptcy or settlement.

To be clear, the practice of hospitals to hire collection agencies to do the dirty job for them in case of unpaid medical bills is not illegal. Once the junk debt buyer purchases that same debt from the collection agency, however, that's when the questions rise.

Essentially, what these collection agencies and junk debt buyers are doing is violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Under the law, they are mandated to inform you about the transaction but they are in a Catch-22 situation: they tell you and risked being alerted to authorities, they stay silent and break the law. The second option it turns out is more palatable considering the number of junk debt buyers still operating in the country. If you seek medical debt help for a lawyer, for example, you would know how to proceed such as demanding from the junk debt buyer the original documents and contracts, which it is in no position to do. Any lawyer worth his salt will not only ask the judge to strike off your debts but also impose sanction on the debt acquisition company.

Manage Your Medical Loan Right

A lot of people think that times have always been difficult for them, and no matter how much they earn, it seems to never be enough anyway. Sometimes, even if it's enough, it's really just that-enough. Many people live from paycheck to paycheck and more than 50% of the middle class Americans have a huge chunk of credit card debt. To add to that sad statistics, many people admit to not being able to save enough and save religiously. What happens now when an emergency strikes, like medical bills? Will a medical loan be enough to cover what you need covered?

The quick answer to medical emergencies are medical loans. You avail them because somebody in your family got hospitalized and your income can't pay hospital bills incurred and/ or you need more time to figure out how to cover all the expenses. Medical loans may be a quick way out of those piling medical bills but you must be careful about managing the cash that you get from such loans, because they're worth so much more than you can imagine. Here are some tips on managing medical loans properly:

Like getting any other loan, you must study the terms well. There are a lot of financial institutions which offer easy-approval loans but remember to read the fine print all the time. How much is the interest rate? How much is due per month? How much maximum time to you have to pay off everything? Study all the trappings that come with the loan and place it vis-à-vis your income. Don't be afraid to ask questions for anything that concerns help with medical bills. Being informed really helps a lot.

Will you, realistically, be able to pay it off depending on your regular income? If you think that the loan you're getting may be paid off with portions from your regular income, then most likely it is still safe to get that loan. The healthy ratio for the monthly due is 20-30% of your total income. With that, you'll still have enough to pay for your other essentials.

Now, for the difficult part: if your target time bracket (to pay off of the loan) seems difficult to beat, what is your Plan B? If you have assets which you can easily convert into cash, make a list of all these assets and consider pawning them off or selling them in case you're short for your monthly dues and you have no one to borrow money from. Never risk to miss out on a payment because the penalty fees may be higher than you can imagine. Many medical loans are classified under emergency loans like salary loans, so they have higher interest rates than regular loans like business loans and credit card loans.

Those are, pretty much, the things that you need to remember when getting a medical loan. Always put practicality at the top of your list and keep an open mind so that you are keen on your Plan B's in case things don't work out as planned.

Need Help With Medical Bills? Go To Your Trusted Lending Institution

There are times in our lives when certain circumstances cripple our financial standings and kinds of puts us in a daze. Sometimes we even drive ourselves to the desperate route just to keep up with the payables. One of these financial typhoons are medical bills. If it's not difficult enough that you have someone dear to you who's suffering from a medical condition, you may also have unpaid medical bills piling up the wall. Need help with medical bills? Let us shed some light on how turning into lending institutions can help you get out of this financial rut:

A lot of people avail the services and the loans offered by many lending institutions because despite the relatively higher interest (as compared to banks), they have faster approvals and faster loan releases. They are also looser when it comes to accepting collaterals. Unlike pawnshops, you don't have to turn the item in. And unlike banks, you don't need to fill up many documents.

Research for the lending institutions near you and look for the one which you trust the most. Canvass for the lowest interest rates, the best payment schemes and the most credible names. For this, you may ask your friends or you may do a little research online. Come up with a shortlist of the lending institutions that you want to check out in person and visit their offices to personally see how they deal with clients.

After that, check your credit standing. If you have a flawless credit score, then it would be easier and faster for you to get the medical bills assistance that you need. If you have a less-than-impressive credit score, then try to make it into its best form as soon as you can. Pay off the little debts that you have here and there-credit card bills, apartment rents, electrical bills, cellular phone bills, internet bills, etc. They all reflect your financial standing and you'd want to look as clean as possible when you face those credit investigators at the lending institution.

Lastly, take care of your assets. Get them appraised and make sure that your papers are complete and legit. If one lending institution appraises your asset too low, you can always move to the next one on your list. Also, if you consider having them sold instead of loaned (bigger cash to pay off those medical bills), a good thing about going to lending institutions is that at least you can have them appraised.

So that's it for your little trip to the lending institution. Hopefully you won't have a hard time getting the medical loan that you need. If you do get approved or don't get approved but get clarified why, the next time that you need help with medical bills, you know where to go...and how to do it. Good luck!

Keep Those Unpaid Hospital Bills From Piling Up

There are a lot of unexpected financial typhoons which may hit us at different time in our lives. One of the worst that can be filed under this category is unpaid hospital bills. If you or one of your family members get admitted in the hospital and your income cannot suffice, it's best to take on some of these tips so that you'll have enough to get by:

Get Extra Jobs and Gigs

If you have a regular job and you need extra income, the best that you can do is to try to book some gigs which you are familiar with. If you can't do it easily within your industry, you can search for online jobs which serve your interest/ skills well. For example, if you have done blog-writing in the past, maybe you can score some online content writing jobs. You may also do other easier link building tasks like blog commenting or forum posting. Just manage your time well. Whatever you earn will still be a big help for when you're needing all the help with medical bills that you can get.

Pawn off, Or Sell Assets

Another way to score some cash when you need some medical bills assistance is to pawn off some of your valuables. Most pawnshops have bigger interest rates than banks but you'll get the money fast and you don't need to gather and complete long documents. Also, you won't have to wait for days just to get the money. You can be done in minutes!

If you don't want to pawn off because you think it's better to sell your valuables off, you can go for the selling route. We're lucky because nowadays, the Internet makes it very easy for us to connect with other people. Therefore, putting your stuff up for sale is very easy. You can go to Ebay, to other buy-and-sell sites or you can even just post it on Facebook and offer the sale to your friends first. This way you don't have to deal with dues, fees, and interests; although it might take longer for you to close a deal.

Get a Medical Loan

There are a lot of financial institutions (including the government) which offer medical loans as a way to remedy those unpaid medical bills. They grant these loans to people who are qualified, of course, those who have regular income or those who can give a worthy collateral for the loan. The approval for such loans may range from minutes to around 3 days; it depends on the kind of loan that you are applying for. The best way to go through this easily is to have a good credit standing or have real assets ready as offers for collateral.

With these three options, you're sure you are not totally empty handed whenever the medical bills start to pile up. Just remember to manage your finances anyway you can, because those unpaid hospital bills can get suffocating whenever financial discipline starts to gain wider loopholes.

Debt Consolidation To Pay For Medical Loan

Consolidating your debts enables you to settle your medical loan in easy installment payments, some credit agencies even include credit card, auto loan or housing mortgage, if you have any, under this scheme. It must be said though that not everyone is eligible for debt consolidation. First, you are not in any way bankrupt and you still have some steady income left, second you are not qualified for the federal or state governments' Medicaid program, and third, you are not receiving any help from religious groups or any non-profit organizations.

If you are looking for a quick-fix solution for your medical loan, then debt consolidation is definitely not for you. Consolidating your debts work because the service provider is willing to bring down the scheduled payments to the minimum by extending the period for much longer. That's the only drawback. Of course, you go choose consolidation in the hope that the tide will turn around for you. Your situation may be bad now, what with the slowdown in the economy and high unemployment rate, but it wouldn't always be like this 10-20 years down the line. If you have extra money, you can settle the consolidated debts anytime.

There are two kinds of debt consolidation for medical bills:

Unsecured loan - Essentially, you avail of the another loan to pay your medical bills. The amount to be released by the crediting agency will depend on your credit history, household income, or extra finances. You can then use that amount to settle your medical loan. The screening process is very strict but only because of the distinct advantages. In case you default, for example, it will not impact on your credit score since you are only answerable to your service provider.

Debt management - The company that you hire will assign a loan manager who will be responsible in contacting your hospital, doctor or insurance company to negotiate for discounts on medical loan or offer you a more affordable payment term. Unlike unsecured loan, under this scheme you lay your credit score on the line although some prefer debt management to the former because there's no money involved between the consolidation company and the one who hired its services. The company, meanwhile, earns either a fixed amount or a percentage of the money saved as a result of the negotiation.

If you still have some assets left that you can sell or if you have a rich relative who can lend you money to pay off your medical loan, better hold on debt consolidation for a while.

When medical loan proves to be much of a burden, however, why not consider Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy to get some reprieve? Don't think of it as running away from your responsibility. Times are hard so you need some help in getting back on your feet. Bankruptcy has its advantages and disadvantages so you better talk to a bankruptcy attorney because he should be able to explain to you what to expect when you seek legal protection from your creditors.

The Underinsured: An Overlooked Sector In Medical Bill Debt

You might be surprised to know that a large number of families driven into medical bill debt are the so-called middle-class. These are families who can afford to pay insurance and more than likely, own insurance. But they are caught in a rock-and-a-hard-place situation: too moneyed to avail of the government assistance program but not nearly rich enough to settle their bills,without necessarily finding themselves buried in debt.

These are the country's underinsured and, for all intents purposes, the country's overlooked. Statistics from ten years ago revealed that as much as 70% of the underinsured were pushed to brink of bankruptcy because of medical bill debt. The figures today aren't much better because the broken health system remains. The numbers could even have ballooned when the financial crisis of 2008 and the ensuing US recession left millions of families struggling to stretch their monthly household budgets.

In America today, more than ever, nobody is allowed to get sick. Moreso the underinsured.

To be sure, the reforms will not be easy because the problems cuts across the supply and service chain. From loopholes in health laws, insurance companies that take advantage of these gaps to decline claims, to doctors saddled with non-payments of services and high malpractice lawsuits and finally, to employers who are forced to pass on to their employees the burden of paying for their insurances in order to cut costs. (We are not even mentioning those employers who take advantage of the economic crunch to eschew paying for insurance.)

Creating a perfect storm is the lack of extra money as families realign savings to pay for the mortgages, utility bills, education and day-to-day expenses. Without savings of their own, it goes without saying that they couldn't afford to pay the co-pays or co-insurance requirements as well as the deductibles, or if their insurance policies do not cover the medical procedure they are seeking.

More often than not, it's not the catastrophic disease that contributes to a medical bill debt when you have no more savings. It's the little things. Consultations that you postponed because you couldn't pay the doctor's fee, procedures you deferred due to lack of money, and the medicines you failed to purchase. These variables add up over time, either your condition worsens or your savings deplete.

Medical Bills: Help For The Uninsured

In cases when the unexpected happens such as accidents, or during unexpected incidence of illness of a loved one, you will want to have some sense of security. It'd be good if you've managed to set aside some savings or if you are insured. Savings and insurance both serve as a buffer for your confidence. At least if ever something goes wrong, you will have viable options. However, if you don't have a lot of savings and are uninsured having a loved one confined in a hospital, and the need to pay off medical bills is something that is very worrisome indeed. But don't fret, getting medical bills help even if you're uninsured is possible.

The first course of action you could take is asking the hospital about a medical bill consolidation program. The hospital's staff will be the best people to approach for questions about this. Since the staff are consistently exposed to people who experience difficulty paying off bills they are usually sympathetic. They just might be able to recommend a community service group that offers help to people with these kind of troubles. Discounts are based on your income and they can range from 5%-100%!

Secondly, it'd be wise to set up a payment plan based on your income. If you don't have insurance then your bills might start to seem unmanageable. The hospital's billing department can be pretty understanding if you are open to them regarding your financial situation. Your medical bills debt can be easier to pay off if it's spread over a longer time period.

Third, wait for all the charges to arrive after a medical operation. It's not a good idea to pay for your bills without sorting through them first. Not sorting through the charges first can be pretty problematic because it's more prone to error. You need to be absolutely certain that you're not being charged for a treatment you did not avail of or that you weren't double charged for any particular treatment. Medical billing is not really the most accurate type of billing in the world. So it's best to be meticulous in paying for those.

The bills aren't impossible to handle even if you're uninsured. It just takes some effort on your part to find the right help. If you manage to do the things said above, your worries regarding your bills will soon be behind you.

File Medical Bankruptcy

The term medical bankruptcy relates to the reason why an individual or married couple files a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy - that is, to either eliminate or reorganize overwhelming owed medical debts. Medical debt in most instances includes doctor, dentist and hospital bills. It can also include debts owed to medical laboratories, ambulance services and health insurance companies.

Medical bills are an increasingly growing reason of why Americans file bankruptcy. A Harvard University study in 2005 stated that medical bankruptcies accounted for fifty-five percent of all bankruptcies filed. The trend of filing medical bankruptcies has increased in the subsequent years since due to the nation's economic woes, even though over 75% of all current bankruptcy filers are covered by some form of health insurance.

Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcies deal with medical debt in two very different ways. Medical debts are classified as "unsecured debt" - that is, there's no collateral like a house or car that is attached to the debt and that can be repossessed if the debt goes unpaid. Credit cards, utility bills and payday loans are also unsecured debts.

Chapter 7, sometimes referred to a "complete bankruptcy", is designed to fully eliminate all unsecured debt, including one's medical and hospital bills. Individuals and married couples have to qualify for Chapter 7 based on their income & expenses, and can only file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy once every eight years.

Chapter 13 is designed to help a person or married couples repay their medical and other unsecured debt over a sixty-month period. Commonly referred to as the "reorganization bankruptcy", Chapter 13 is created and formed around the filer's subjective financial circumstances. Depending on one's assets, income & expenses, it's possible to pay back as little as zero to ten percent of one's owed medical and unsecured debts.