3 January 2008 No Comment Print This Post  Email This Post

When I was still in college, I worked the front desk. My job was mostly to call the appropriate person if some sort of emergency arose. One night, an accident happened on my watch — someone got hurt. I got up to call an ambulance.

Despite being in obvious pain, the kid asked me not to. He didn’t want to go to the hospital. He said he’d wait for the campus health center to open in the morning, which happened to provide limited health care, for free. He couldn’t afford the cost to get patched up, let alone the price of the ambulance ride.

It was a group effort to convince him that he had to go to the hospital. He needed attention now, and the health center wouldn’t be able to give him the care that he needed. The ambulance ride was still out, but he agreed to let someone drive him to the ER.

The problem is that even a minor injury or illness can cost thousands of dollars, without health care, and the kid in question just didn’t feel like he could pay that sort of bill. He was right, too. The price tag on the attention the ER gave him wound up being about $3,000.

He was able to handle that debt, though. He qualified for medical financial aid, and the hospital basically cancelled his debt.

This sort of financial aid is typically available to anyone whose annual income is less than 200% of the federal poverty level (for a single person in 2007, that would be $19,600). College students working part-time almost always qualify. Even if you earn plenty of money, though, there is hope. Most hospitals are willing to wipe portions of debt if you can demonstrate that you have no way to pay.

The kid in question had to take over his pay stubs and a copy of his most recent back statement to the hospital’s billing department. If you have more assets, you might have to list them out, as well.
Medical debt cancellation doesn’t usually cover stuff like prescriptions or follow up visits with doctors. But it can cover the most expensive parts of treatment, from stitches to surgery. And you usually have to apply for the aid within a year of the treatment in order to qualify.

While you can’t easily erase all debts, a few hours of talking with a hospital’s financial aid department can easily wipe out thousands of dollars of debt. Even if you aren’t sure whether you can qualify, it never hurts to ask.