The Mountain of Medical Bills

I have made no secret about the fake that I am sick here on the blog. My hospital stay in July left me with a $40,000 bill just for the stay itself. Add in the emergency visit, the specialist that all came in, then the tests, and well you can see where I am going with this. I ended up with three new doctors, each with their own copay. The bills are more than enough to make me want to scream. So just what am I suppose to do?

I can tell you that the hospital has been more than patient with me and I could be more grateful. They helped me work out a plan that works within my budget and gets them paid. I feel like I should say that the $40,000 is my share after insurance. It would have cost me less to not have insurance because the hospital has a discount program when you pay cash. While the hospital has been accommodating it does nothing for all of the other mounting debt.

The more I thought about the more it made sense for me to learn more about debt consolidation. At least for this debt. By consolidating this debt together I could have a single payment and everyone could get their money. It is a win-win all around. The first month I sat down with the pile of medical bills to figure things out I felt like such a failure.

I always had such a good handle on my finances. Well, at least I have since my divorce. I made sure I saved and had two years worth of bills saved in case something happened. It came in handy when I was out of work for several weeks recovering. I had the money for the monthly bills and groceries without having to use credit cards. The problem was I had to dip into that savings a couple of years ago when Sam went through his cancer as well so there was just enough for a couple of months.

In my research I learned that the Federal Reserves estimates that more than half of all accounts sent to collection agencies are due to medical debt. That didn’t surprise me though. If I thought about it for a minute especially in the last year. I am certain that a lot of people’s medical debt has gone up much more dramatically than it has ever been in the past.

For me personally, having any sort of debt beyond my normal bills makes me nervous. When I was in the middle of my divorce I was left to handle all sorts of bills and debt my ex had ran up. Including back taxes and he cleaned out all of our accounts at the time. I have worked hard to stay with my head well above water when it comes to what I owe. I learned though that as of September the average American has like $92,000 worth of debt. No offense but that puts my mind at ease. I would probably have a heart attack if mine was that much.

There is no shame or failure in medical debt. It happens to pretty much everyone. All you can do is take the time to handle to the best of your ability and situation. Deb consolation may not be for everyone. For me, it was a way to to handle the debt without getting even deeper into. Especially when I know that those bills will be amassing from time to time while I work towards getting healthier. It is simply the beast that is my illness. There are going to be plenty of moments when I am back in the hospital. Although I am going to do my best to keep those times to a minimum.

HOW DO YOU MANAGE YOUR DEBT? WE WOULD LVOE TO HEAR HOW YOU TACKLE IT.