This article was reviewed and updated June 2026 (original post date March 2023). Don’t miss my video about financial assistance for medical bills at the bottom of the page!
If you haven’t dealt with large medical bills for yourself or your kids, you are very fortunate. I have personally dealt with some really big ones that I wasn’t able to pay. Thankfully, there are ways to obtain financial assistance for medical bills.
When my oldest daughter was almost five years old, my neighbor’s dog bit her hand through the backyard fence. The dog bit her finger hard enough to draw blood, which became a bigger issue. After speaking to the neighbor to make sure the dog was up to date on shots, I was alarmed to learn that she was NOT up to date on her rabies vaccinations, which made things so much more difficult. This was a huge concern for me because I had not idea what the dog had been exposed to. After some quick research, I learned it was best for my daughter to get the rabies prophylaxis until we could confirm that the dog did not have rabies. After calling around to see if we could get this done in a doctor’s office or urgent care facility, I learned that was not an option. We ended up taking my daughter to the emergency room instead.
Expensive Hospital Visits
In case you aren’t aware, emergency room visits have the potential to be expensive. One simple ER visit can cost thousands of dollars out of pocket. If you need an ambulance ride too, you can add even more money ($1000+) to that bill. If that emergency room visit turns into a hospital admission, you will then be looking at thousands of dollars per day for medical care. Even with insurance, it’s unlikely that everything will be covered. Once the medical bills start to arrive, you may be dealing with bills from your ER doctor, any other doctors who helped you during your stay (if admitted), the hospital, and an ambulance company.
Although hospitals are often the first place we run to when we need help for an emergency medical condition, to give birth, or to have an operation, they are also businesses. As a business, they require money to operate and will collect on accounts as most businesses do. And even though some hospitals are required to provide medical care to everyone that needs it, even those without insurance or some other ability to pay, at some point you are going to be asked to pay the bill. Receiving a hospital bill from the hospital billing department is pretty standard, but if you don’t pay it they will eventually send it to their collections department to handle. And once it hits collections, it can turn into a civil lawsuit against you. In short, things can get ugly and complicated fast if you don’t pay your hospital bill.
Medical Expenses and Hospital Bills
I have made efforts to be responsible with medical expenses. All of my family members are covered by health insurance. We select medical providers that are in our network in order to minimize expenses. Unfortunately, however, sometimes medical expenses after insurance pays aren’t fully covered. There are insurance deductibles, copays, and sometimes other medical expenses that our insurance didn’t cover.
After dealing with anxiety over not being able to the hospital bill and being hounded by the hospital collections department, I learned that hospitals typically have a financial aid person. If you call the hospital and speak to their financial aid person, they will be able to guide you towards financial assistance. If you qualify, you may be able to get rid of that medical bill entirely.
You should be able to find a website link somewhere on their website, but if you cannot then just call the main number and ask for Financial Services. Once you know how to access the hospital’s financial services department, you may be directed to a number to call, an application to fill out, or documentation to submit.
How I Got Rid of My Hospital Bill
With my personal situation, I paid on the large hospital bill for a couple of years until I just couldn’t afford to pay it anymore. Not being able to pay on the bill got me into trouble with the hospital collections department and they were threatening me with a lawsuit. Once I felt I had no other options and was feeling desperate, I decided to reach out to the financial assistance person at the hospital who sent me an application. I then completed the financial service application, and the bill was wiped away. It felt amazing to not have that bill to deal with anymore and especially to not have the collections department hanging over my head!
Neighbor and Dog Issue
If you’re curious about how the dog bite issue worked out, my daughter was upset but fine. We took her to the emergency room and she was given one rabies prophylaxis shot just to be on the safe side. My neighbor was not okay, however. She refused to accept responsibility for the occurrence and was even confrontational and mean about it. To this day (more than 10 years later), she remains hostile with me. I continue to not care about this. It’s become a ongoing joke with me and my kids and I have laughingly referred to her as “Cruella” for years now.
How You Can Get Rid of Your Medical Bill
If you have medical bills that you can’t handle, I strongly recommend that you address the problem head on. Check to see if your hospital has a financial services department or a financial aid person to assist you with financial assistance for your medical bills. Once you learn how to contact them, then take the necessary steps for them to adjust your medical bill for you. See what you qualify for. They may adjust your bill according to their sliding scale (income based) OR they may even write you entire bill off. Good luck with getting financial assistance with your medical bill!
Recap
If you have a medical bill you cannot pay:
- Find out if your hospital has a financial aid services department or financial aid person.
- Call hospital financial aid services and ask how they can help with your bill.
- Complete the financial services application and follow any additional instructions.
- Submit all requested documentation required to support your application.
- Follow up as needed
- Wait for bill to be reduced or wiped away entirely.
- Once you have received confirmation of the billing adjustment, make sure to keep a copy for your records.
- Relax!!! You just handled a large hospital bill you were worried about.
Video Version
If you’d like to learn more, I made a video on this topic. You can watch it here.
Additional Income
Looking for ways to earn additional money? Click here to check out my ideas!
