Medical Debt-Forgiveness? Sign Me Up PLEASE!!!

When you have health insurance it can certainly make your health care experience much better. Most of the time our insurance company can handle all of your billing matters, which frees you up to simply focus on getting better. That is, after all, the most important thing. However, that does not seem to be the case for many who have insurance claims, which adds stress to a person’s recovery.

Another thing that is great about having insurance is that you don’t have to pay for all of your bills in one large chunk. The insurance company takes care of your bill most of the time. Generally, you pay your monthly premium and then whatever co-pays (if you have them) and the insurance company handles everything else. Sometimes not so true. Many patients have shared with me their Medical Insurance “nightmares”. These include denied claims for which the patient has to battle it out with the insurance providers for services that in fact are covered by their insurance policy.

However, the insurance company might only pay a certain amount or a certain percentage of the bill (or coverage over the year). Sometimes you opt for a service that isn’t covered by your insurer.

Whatever the reason, sometimes you have an outstanding balance in your account. The good news is that most of the time you don’t have to pay for all of this at once (after all, that is the purpose of having an insurance company). But if you still have this outstanding balance at the end of the fiscal year you might want to consider asking for end-of-the-year debt forgiveness.

Your insurance and medical bills are just like any other account. And like all financial accounts there is sometimes a chance that you negotiate your way to a lower payment or even total forgiveness of the debt.

While it is not always likely that you can have the account cleansed or even reduced, it really cannot hurt to ask. It might seem like your doctor and your insurance company don’t care about you but in reality you are important. And if forgiving your bill can make it easier to retain your business, it can sometimes be beneficial to the insurance company too.