having medical bills can cause fear, worry, and embarrassment. you may begin to lose hope. unfortunately, ignoring them can lead to bigger problems. your bills might get turned over to a collection agent, and you might even get sued. but if you can't afford your medical debt, you may have some options that canreally help like charity care, financial counseling and payment plans. welcome to our webcast about how peoplein washington state can get help handling medical debt. produced by the northwest justiceproject, with help from the seattle king countyasset building collaborative.
when we talk about medical debt, we're talking about any money owed forhealth care. you might owe a doctor or hospital, or even a collection agency if a doctor or hospital turned the bill over to it. don't ignore any bill! read it carefully. make sure you know what the bill is for, and what it says you owe. look for any mistakes on it.
look to see what each charge is for. sometimes the charges will be confusing. if you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask whoever sent you the bill. if you have medicaid, medicare or private medical insurance, look on the bill to see what your insurance paid. if you do not have medicaid you could ask the hospital about helping you apply for medicaid coverage for a past time period. more information on who qualifies is at www.nohla.org.
even if your insurance paid some of thedebt, you may not be able to afford to pay theamount of bill says you owe. keep watching to learn about some of the options you might have to help you pay the rest. some people qualify for a special program to help pay for hospital bills, called charity care. in washington, state law requires hospitals to give medical care for free or at a lower cost to people who meet income qualifications. if you are getting health care in ahospital, or if you have a bill for health care you got at a hospital, ask for an application to find out if you are eligible for charity care. the hospital should give you a written a handout that explains how to apply for
charity care when you are admitted. if you don't get an application when youwere admitted to the hospital you can ask for an application after that. you can apply for charity care even after your bill has been turned over to a collection agency or you've been sued for the debt. when you get the application, fill it out and turn it in by the deadline stated on the application. you will have to prove that your income is low enough to get charity care. so you'll have to turn in proof, like copies of pay stubs,
income tax returns, or forms from medicaid. make a copy of your documents andapplication before you send them in, and then follow up with a phone call tomake sure the hospital received your charity care application. for more detailed information on how toapply for charity care, look on www.washingtonlawhelp.org. charity care covers hospital care only. it will not cover bills from doctors or others who treat you but who don't work for a hospital.
it will not cover bills from doctors or others who treat you but who don't work for a hospital. people with insurance sometimes get charged less for health care than others who don't have insurance. if you don't have insurance, you can ask the hospital or doctor to charge you the same rate they charge insured patients, or some other amount that is a fair price for the service. look on www.healthcarebluebook.com to find out a fair price for the health care you've received. whether or not you have insurance or can get charity care, if you still need help paying the rest of the money the hospital or doctor says you owe, you still have options.
so don't pay your medical bills with your credit card before exploring your other options. trading medical that for credit card debt with interest can put you at a high risk of owing more money than you need to and falling behind on your payments. consider all options available to you and talk to a financial counselor and talk to a consider all options available to you and talk to a financial counselor counselor before paying medical bills with your credit card. for these and other bills not covered by charity care, or if you can't get charity care, you can ask the hospital or doctor to agree to a payment plan. figure out what kind of monthly payment you can afford.
one of these nonprofit financial counseling organizations can help you figure out the best way to handle your debt: american financial solutions apprisen and clearpoint credit counseling solutions. after you figure out what payment might be best for you, call the doctor or the medical billing department to explain your financial situation and offer the payment plan. medical billing departments know you might have trouble paying your bills. if your bill was already sent to a collection agency,
the hospital or doctor might be willing to take your account out of collections. if they agree on a payment plan, be sure and get a copy of the new plan in writing, and keep up with the lowered payments. if you don't pay your medical bills on time you may get sued. if you think you were being sued, act fast! you may be confused about what to donext, but you should not delay. if charity care should have paid for some of your hospital bills, but didn't, you can bring that up in your defense. if your bill has been turned over to collections, talk to a financial counselor before making additional payments.
it might be too late for the agency tomake you pay the rest of the bill. look for more detailed information onwhat to do if you are sued over a debt on www.washingtonlawhelp.org under "consumer and debt." thanks for watching! you'll probably need more information to learn more about this and other legalissues www.washingtonlawhelp.org. if you are low-income, you may qualifyfor the legal help or a referral from the clear hotline. you can begin the online intake and screening process at clear*onlinewww.nwjustice.org/get-legal-help. or you can also call the clear hotline at 1-888-201-1014.
this video was produced in september 2012. the laws may have changed since that time. this video provides general information only, your situation may be very different than the ones in this video. this video is not a substitute for talking to a lawyer about your unique situation. it does not create an attorney-clientrelationship, and it cannot predict or guarantee an outcome in any legal proceeding. seattle-king county asset building collaborative is not offering any legal advice and does not assume legal liability for the content.
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