Paying the Doctor's Bill

When I was a kid and someone was fighting, or maybe if they threatened to hurt us, it was common to hear this retort, "You'll have to pay the doctor's bill." 

Thinking about that now, it's a clear giveaway that my neighborhood was made of lower middle-class working families. What other kids would think that having to pay a bill was a worthy threat? And a doctor's bill, no less. 

Maybe we had osmosed the worries of our parents: how were they going to pay the doctor's bills that come with raising a bunch of kids? 

Today we have returned to that worry: how in the heck is anyone going to pay for healthcare and how, indeed will we pay for the high cost of cancer?

Money talk? Yes there are taboos in CancerLand and money is one of them. 

Many of us have experienced people turning away from us because they don’t know how to talk about, or ask about, our loved one’s cancer.

But money is the place where most of us turn away. It’s a different kind of uncomfortable. We are reluctant to ask about prices, costs, expenses and who is willing to bluntly ask, "Can we afford this?” when the conversation is about a cancer diagnosis.

So, I was very happy to see a helpful document in Sunday's New York Times. The article was called, "A Financial Bill of Rights for Patients" and it details--in plain English was you can expect, ask for, and stand your ground to receive in the financial realm of medical/hospital care.

I'm putting the link below and you do want to read and print out the one page document--put a copy in your caregiver notebook/totebag.

There are nine (9) Financial Rights and they are:

The Right to an itemized bill--in plain English

The Right to no surprise bills

The Right to accurate info about providers in the plan

The Right to a stable network (this was big news to me!)

The Right to be informed of conflicts of interest

The Right to know in advance of facilities fees

The Right to see a price list for procedures

The Right to know about cheaper options

The Right to know your bill will not be sent to collections!

Lots of good stuff here--and in plain English. 

This is def a post--and a link to send to all the caregivers you know. We have so much to worry about everyday. Lets help each other lower the financial stresses.

Here's the link: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/27/opinion/sunday/patients-rights-hospitals-health-care.html