Medical Bills
The cost of health care in America is, to put it simply, expensive.
Even if you have health insurance coverage or Medicare or Medicaid benefits, a simple illness could end up costing you hundreds or thousands of dollars.
An illness or injury hits your wallet in many ways, including:
- Cost of doctor visit, typically $20-60 with insurance, not counting any procedures
- Prescription drugs, costs start at $4 and go up and up
- Tests and treatments
- Overnight stays at hospital
- Emergency room care, which averages more than $500 a visit
One illness or injury could involve multiple doctor visits, tests and prescriptions. Even with insurance you must still pay deductibles and make co-payments. Plus, there may be benefits to how much your insurance will pay.
To add insult to injury, when you need medical help you typically miss time at work, too. So now, on top of the steep medical bills, you’ve got less money this month because you were forced to take time off work.
In some cases, a serious medical condition could keep you out of work for weeks or months. Even if your insurance covers most of the medical expenses, you could still find yourself struggling to make ends meet.
A 2009 study by researchers at Harvard University found that health issues were often a predictor of other financial problems. Even if you planned well for the future - covered by insurance and with a backup savings fund - a serious illness or injury could be financially devastating.
So if you’re unsure how you will cope with your medical bills, you need to take action and get someone on your side who can fight for you in the face of big hospitals, insurance companies and debt collectors.
A prescription to get out of medical debt
If your debt is out of control because of medical bills and other expenses, there are actions you can take to regain control of your life.
Medical debt is considered unsecured debt and could be wiped out completely with a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and often in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy as well.
In fact, more than 60 percent of all bankruptcy filings are related to medical debt. For many people, only the legal protection of bankruptcy can provide them with the medical debt assistance they need.
To learn more about how filing bankruptcy may take care of your medical bills, speak with a local bankruptcy lawyer. Your lawyer can explain, in detail, how bankruptcy works and how it can affect your medical debt.
To get in contact with a local bankruptcy attorney, simply fill out the free case review form on this page and we’ll connect you right away.
More information on how unpaid medical bills can affect your life, and how to wipe out your medical debt: