Helpful Tip!!

Tip #1
Today I was going through my medical bills for the past month and encountered the dreaded GIANT hospital bill I'd been sorta ignoring. I'd been a little unsure of how I was going to deal with it since I drained my savings account to move and it's more than I can pay off at one time. I figured I would just put in on my (very low interest) credit card and pay it off over the next couple months. I figured I'd give the hospital a call though to see what kind of options I had in terms of a payment plan through their billing department. I talked with the woman on the phone a bit and when I mentioned that I was primarily trying to decide if I wanted to put it on my card or pay it in installments, she offered to take 10% off the entire bill if I paid it today. I went ahead and did that and I'm so glad I decided to call before I just paid it.
This is actually the second time I've had a hospital offer to reduce my payment if I paid it right then. The first time was a weird situation involving some billing mistakes on their end and on mine, so I didn't think much of it. Since I got a similar offer today, I just thought I'd share in case anyone else is ever in a similar situation. Definitely give the hospital a call and see what they can do for you!

Tip #2
For any lymphoma patients that ever wander this way, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) has financial aid available for patients. Anyone in treatment for leukemia or lymphoma can get $150 a year just by filling out a form and having your doctor sign it. They also have a co-pay assistance program and Hodgkin's patients are eligible for up to $5000/yr for certain medical expenses if they qualify (basically, you can't make more than 500% of the federal poverty limit). I just found out about these over the weekend and am working on the (easy) applications for each program (easy, except if your oncologist is in India). For people who don't have leukemia or lymphoma, consider donating some money to the LLS to help them out with the research they sponsor and the patient assistance programs they offer. Right now, I'm in a situation to be on the receiving end of LLS support, but once I'm not drowning in medical bills, they'll be on the list of non-profits I'll donate to. Or, if anyone feels like running, they have marathon/triathlon training program to help raise money (*waves* hi Kendall!!) Check it out here

PS (on a not so awesome note): Going through my itemized hospital bill was nuts. $12 for a tylenol nuts! Also, $800 for a chest tube tray that was brought to my room when the surgeon & my primary doctor were disagreeing about whether or not my lung was nicked during my port surgery....never used the chest tube tray and for all I know, there was probably nothing ever wrong with my lung.
Fun Fact 1: The most expensive thing on the bill was the medicine (rasburicase) I got before my first chemo to prevent me from getting tumor lysis syndrome. At $9000, it was almost 20% of the entire bill.
Fun Fact 2: Chemo in the hospital was 1000% more expensive than it is at Dr Sharma's office. I'm only talking about the actual chemo drugs.
Fun Fact 3: Each neulasta shot I get costs $4000+

I'm so thankful for my health insurance. I'm really rooting for Congress and President Obama to come up with a good health care solution so everyone can have access to affordable health care. It'd be cool if Republicans and Democrats could all come together to compromise and get some beneficial legislation in place rather than bickering and ultimately getting nothing done. I can't even begin to imagine how we'd deal with something like this if I didn't have insurance. At the same time, the hospital might want to consider buying their tylenols at Costco where they only cost pennies a pill ;-) (that's sarcasm folks)