Medical bill, are their foundations or somewhere we can find help?

My parents have unbelievable medical bills and of course they have insurance. But these insurance companies seem like they do not pay for anything. When you have cancer and heart ailments bills have added up over the years. Is there Help out there?

"BOSTON - Costly illnesses trigger about half of all personal bankruptcies, and most of those who go bankrupt because of medical problems have health insurance, according to findings from a Harvard University study to be released Wednesday."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6895896/

Depending on how bad it is, they may have to suffer through joining so many others.

I have no idea how old, what insurance(s), what bills, over what time, etc. but others were right in saying talk to the finance folks and see if they will settle for less.

If the bills are not more than a year old, they may also qualify for some "charity care" or discount that way.

Possibly they qualify for Medicaid--a lot of folks on Medicare end up on Medicaid as well.

With cancer and heart issues, ONGOING bills no doubt will be an issue. Are there some places they can get care for less? Example, are there any medical school clinics in the area? Frequently you'll get excellent care, but for less, as it's care by students supervised by faculty.

Are the providers all accepting assignment if this is a Medicare plan? Docs CAN ask for more than Medicare pays http://www.aarp.org/health/medicare/trad...

Probably meds are eating them alive. There are sometimes programs through the drug companies that will help. Look at what drugs they are taking and contact the manufacturers to see if there is some program or help.

If they ARE on Medicare are they ON Medicare? If so they get stuck with 20% co-pays and really have to either have a medigap policy (more premiums) OR consider getting on an HMO where, because of the necessity for referrals, they SHOULD have some decrease in expenditures. Of course, they may also have battles to get needed care.

If this is the case, RUN to the phone and address getting whatever HMO or such is needed because THIS is the month for open enrollment. From Jan-March, Humana told me they were taking Medicare Advantage folks, but I never know if the reps are fully informed or not because I get conflicting reports at times depending on who I speak with.

Also, read this and have them BEWARE:
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnfl...

Good luck.

Some hospitals will agree to settle for a portion of the bill. For instance, if the bill is 1,000 they might settle for half. Just talk to someone in charge in billing or social services. goodluck

Sometimes you really have to be persistent with getting insurance companies to pay. Once there is denial of a bill they figure you won't protest. Try it anyway. It may be a full time job staying on them or getting the doctor to reword a bill. (I once got into a dental payment problem because the insurance company insisted on using outdated codes for a procedure and the dentist had updated his billing codes as required by law).
Also, make calls to the doctors and the hospital - work your way right to the top and don't take the "we don't do that" BS from some underling. They would rather have money now and be done with it so they don't have to keep billing for years.
There may be local foundations that help pay medical expenses in your area - check with the local cancer support group - ask at the doctors office etc. Local people are more inclined to help those in the community - I myself will donate to the local efforts before making contributions nationally.

Well, they have insurance so like 80% of the bills ARE being paid. Elective or experimental stuff is what's not covered.

I'm wondering if it's just medical bills killing your folks, or if they just have a tremendous amount of debt in general??

There are no foundations. Sometimes you can negotiate prices with the providers.

But extremely high medical bills CAN lead to bankruptcies. Especially if there's a lot of other debt, too.