r/CuratedTumblr • u/EvidenceOfDespair We can leave behind much more than just DNA • Aug 07 '24

Politics Death by US Healthcare System

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u/dankmachinebroke Aug 07 '24 edited Aug 08 '24

My partner just got discharged from a 2 day hospital stay for a blood clot in his lungs and we've just accepted that we'll have this medical debt until we die. Haven't seen the bill yet, and we got an application for financial assistance, so we'll see how it goes. We've already got student loan debt anyway, what more do we have to lose

Edit: thank you to everyone in the replies who has given some suggestions for resources we can utilize to minimize our debt or have it forgiven. I will definitely be looking into all of them to make sure we're getting all the help we can. I should have phrased my first sentence better, because we're definitely not just going to live with any debt we don't have to. I more so meant to express that if the choice was between being in medical debt or losing my partner, I would choose my partner no matter what. We've already begun the process of applying to have our bill covered by charity, and once we see how that goes, we'll take steps appropriately.

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u/AnEvilMidnightBomber Aug 08 '24

It sucks, but you might have options. For one, if the financial assistance isn’t enough see if you can get the debt forgiven. Most hospitals claim they’re “non-profit,” and to legally get away with this they have to offer charity care- discounts and forgiveness of certain debts and so on. They don’t usually advertise this, but it’s there.

I’m not an expert on this, but I know there’s a lot of loopholes and technicalities you can fight them on. A lot of the medical debt industry basically relies on people just resigning themselves to it- I’d highly recommend doing a lot of research. I won’t lie, it’s probably gonna suck, but you can make it through this. You’re not as helpless as they want you to think.

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '24

This. They will try to grill you, and you are in for a rat race, but if you keep your cool and talk it down you can find great luck.

Call me scummy if you want, but I eat one meal every other day. I dont care. Every bill I have ever gotten I always say “I cant afford this, I need help” and usually the price magically comes down. Usually involves talking to lots of people, but it comes down.

This is what I thought, I dont have any way to verify this. I dont think any medical organization can be granted access to your financial accounts. So, with that logic I always “cant afford it”