Navigating Medical Debt: Options for Assistance & Financial Relief

According to an article in the Washington Post, 62 percent of all bankruptcies filed in 2007 were related to medical expenses. Many people simply cannot afford to pay their medical bills.

Medicare

• Medicare helps many elderly and disabled people pay medical bills. To qualify, you must be eligible for Social Security retirement or disability benefits.

Medicaid

• Medicaid helps some people with low incomes pay medical bills. Not all people with low incomes qualify; in some states, only children, elderly people, disabled people and pregnant women qualify.

Children's Health Insurance Program

• The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) helps pay medical bills for some children who do not qualify for Medicaid. Their families must meet income guidelines to qualify.

Hill-Burton Act

• The Hill-Burton Act helps pay medical bills for low-income patients at hospitals, nursing homes and clinics that received federal funding for construction projects in the past. See Resource section for a list of obligated facilities.

Getting Assistance

• If you need assistance paying medical bills, contact the welfare agency in the county in which you live to find out if you qualify for Medicaid. For more information about CHIP, call 1-877 KIDS NOW (1-877-543-7669). Contact your local Social Security office to ask about Medicare. Contact any Hill-Burton obligated facility to inquire about receiving care there.