r/HospitalBills • u/kizzleeeeee • 3d ago
How to pay medical bills when you can’t work
Hey guys. I’m sorry to ask here but I’m just not getting anywhere on my own. And I’m not asking for money, just any advice that has helped you get by with medical debt.
I’ve had this mystery illness for years. I racked up massive medical debt on credit cards and had to file bankruptcy in February. As soon as my bankruptcy was discharged, I finally got a diagnosis/surgery in April. I was forced to stop working due to this issue and still can’t work. I still had my employers insurance when i had this surgery. I am in the process of filing for disability but they told me straight up that they’re understaffed and it can be up to 10 months before I hear the FIRST decision. I didn’t know i was going to have surgery or i would have waited to do the bankruptcy lol
I keep getting more and more medical bills from this surgery and my urgent care visits for complications. I just now got a bill for $500 for a service completed in May. I already paid like $1,000 out of pocket for my surgery and with all these bills i keep getting, I have close to $5,000 in debt and the bills keep coming. I’m so overwhelmed because I just had to file bankruptcy because of this. What am i supposed to do?? I’ve called the hospitals for payment plan and they want my w-2’s from last year. This does me no good because I was working at that time.
I live with family, i drive a beater car, i don’t eat out, i literally don’t leave my house unless it’s to go to the doctor. I only shop sales, i use coupons and cash back apps. I can’t donate plasma due to my medical condition, but I do paid focus groups when I get selected for them. I’ve been selling everything i own on Depop and eBay, which has helped tremendously, but this is only really covering my basic needs like groceries and gas. I applied for food stamps but they are also backed up and i can’t get anywhere with them.
If anybody has any advice, please, I’m desperate! And i thank you in advance. If you’re dealing with this too, i hope you are feeling well now and having an easier time!
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u/Competitive_Snow126 3d ago
I didn’t, so now I have collections. They haven’t affected me as badly as you’d think, and I plan on paying them off soon. The hospital wanted like $125 a month and I just couldn’t afford it while I was on unpaid medical leave.
My best advice is try to dispute them. Try to figure out if you can get rid of them via surprise medical bill laws. A lot of my medical debt is because the ER was in network, but their physicians weren’t - OR the estimates for imaging services, surgeries or procedures were wrong and I was only charged a copay, had the surgery, and then my insurance didn’t cover what they were supposed to. Most of the times, I needed the surgery or procedures ASAP so I didn’t have time to fight with insurance or wait for an EOB / denial to process. I couldn’t pee for a long time, which resulted in many chronic debilitating UTI’s, so I needed an emergency cystoscopy which I was put under for. That kind of thing.
My worst mistake was making myself feel bad about it. I don’t anymore. I’ve been approved for apartments, financed a car, and I’m pretty sure I could finance personal loans if I needed to.
I actually went back to school to use FAFSA Pell grant and student loan refunds to assist me with living expenses while I use my current income to pay off my medical debt.
You should also look into any petitions you can find for your local representatives to push for that cancellation of medical debt rule where they were going to remove it from credit reports to be put back in action. Trump stayed it.
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u/New-Professor5295 3d ago
Considering you cannot work you should be able to qualify for Medicaid coverage. Yes it gets complicated because of new work requirement bs for able body persons so has to be well documented that you cannot reliably work at the present time and that you are trying to get disability. That would help you avoid new debts but unfortunately would not help with existing debts. You want to reach out non profits organizations that help people in your state with Medicaid and Snap benefits. Those organizations can help you navigate the government bureaucracy and might have advice regarding current medical debts. Remember food pantries can help you with food as well since so much of what little you have is gong to debt. Help is out there. Best wishes
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u/FoldNaive5660 2d ago
I’m so sorry you’re going through this — medical debt on top of health issues is just crushing. A couple things you can try:
- Always request an itemized bill — errors are really common, and you can challenge charges.
- Hospitals often have charity care / financial assistance programs, but they don’t make it easy to find.
- If the payment plan is based on last year’s income, push back and provide proof of your current situation (like bank statements instead of W-2s).
- You might also want to check out MediLoop — you just upload your bills and they scan for errors + negotiate with providers. It could at least take some of the stress off while you focus on recovery.
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u/alexaravenXO 3d ago
Just ignore it. Sounds like you’re judgment proof. It’s their problem, not yours.
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u/blondee84 3d ago
OP this is correct. You're what's called a NINJA - no income, no job or assets.
I was in a similar situation after having to quit my job for health problems in 2021-2024. I had over 1 million in hospital bills after filing for bankruptcy in 2020 due to medical bills. The only thing you have to worry about is doctors/clinics refusing to treat you for failure to pay. They have to treat you if it's an emergency, but they may refuse to schedule you for "routine" appointments. I never ran into that myself and hopefully you don't either, but it happened to a friend so it's possible. If any of the hospitals around you are non-profit they may be able to help you more than for-profit hospitals
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u/No-Repeat676 2d ago
This is in no way me being mean I am just genuinely curious, did you have health insurance? My out of pocket max is freaking 9k which is so gross but I’m always worried about some major medical issue coming up out of nowhere and costing more than that and getting screwed with much more in debt than just 9k.
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u/blondee84 2d ago
Yes I did have insurance, but they deemed some of the treatment as experimental and didn't cover it. My out of pocket was $4k, but I ended up being responsible for about $45k
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u/flag-orama 2d ago
If you are broke medical care is free. just tell the hospital you have zero means to pay and they will write it off.
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u/I__run__on__diesel 3d ago
Call the hospital financial assistance to apply for after-service financial aid. Many hospitals are MUCH more generous than you think, but you have to start the process early.