Crushed by a hospital bill? Here’s how you can fight for free or low-cost care
LA TimesThe cost of medical treatment depleted Frances Edwards’ savings after she was diagnosed with Stage 3 melanoma in October 2016 — even though she has insurance. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, how am I going to do this?’” recalls Edwards, 74, who lives in Cambria, on California’s Central Coast, and drives 450 miles round trip every five weeks for treatment at USC’s Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center in Los Angeles. “A lot of people who think they won’t qualify actually do, but the hospitals don’t tell them,” says Gary Ko, founder and president of California Medical Billing Advocates, a new nonprofit that helps people negotiate their medical bills for free. “First of all, don’t rush to pay,” says Steven Corn, a certified patient advocate in Los Angeles who helps people negotiate discounts on their medical bills. He also tells the hospital, “‘If you collect the whole amount on this patient, you are going against your mission statement.’” Bernard J. Wolfson writes for Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent publication of the Kaiser Family Foundation.
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