I NEED HELP!
I really don't know what to do... I'm scheduled to have surgery soon (On the 26th of September) and thought everything is included and paid for by insurance. Well someone from the hospital called today and said I have to pay $250 before pre-op in order to have the surgery. I am unemployed and really don't know anyone to borrow from. I don't know what to do... Any ideas???? Can anyone help out??? Every little bit makes the difference.
Most insurance policies don't cover everything. Most people have deductibles or copays or something they must pay.
You can call the hospital and ask about making payment arrangements. All hospitals that receive federal funds (which means almost all hospitals because almost all take medicare and/or medicaid) have some money to help low income patients pay hospital bills. I'm not sure if you can apply for that assistance before having surgery, though. Usually people apply for it after being treated in the ER or something and then receiving a bill they can't pay. But you can ask about it. My gall bladder surgery ended up costing me nothing out of pocket. Insurance paid 80% and then the hospitalsent me a bill and I filled out the form for assistance and they covered the other 20%. They hadn't asked for any money up front, though.
If you don't know anyone you could borrow the money from, can you put it on a credit card? Otherwise you may need to postpone your surgery date until you can save up the money.
You can call the hospital and ask about making payment arrangements. All hospitals that receive federal funds (which means almost all hospitals because almost all take medicare and/or medicaid) have some money to help low income patients pay hospital bills. I'm not sure if you can apply for that assistance before having surgery, though. Usually people apply for it after being treated in the ER or something and then receiving a bill they can't pay. But you can ask about it. My gall bladder surgery ended up costing me nothing out of pocket. Insurance paid 80% and then the hospitalsent me a bill and I filled out the form for assistance and they covered the other 20%. They hadn't asked for any money up front, though.
If you don't know anyone you could borrow the money from, can you put it on a credit card? Otherwise you may need to postpone your surgery date until you can save up the money.
Kelly
Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.
Definitely check with the hospital to find out about payments. The doctor for me didn't want everything up front, but the hospital called and told me I had to come up with $1000 the day of surgery. I found this out 3 days prior to surgery. I'm sure they will work something out with you.
Good Luck!
Good Luck!
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