Nearly every American family is looking for medical debt relief at one time or another. Medical debt almost never happens by choice and usually is the product of an unforeseen illness or accident. Based on their situation (insurance, medicaid eligibility etc.) people need help with medical bills, dental care, vision care or on going medical prescriptions. Sometimes, people don’t go for dental and vision treatments due to lack of insurance. People end up taking high interest personal loan or payday loans to pay for these unforeseen medical expenses.
We started BenefitsExplorer as a resource to help people in need. We came across a number of people who were not aware of options available to them for better managing their unforeseen illness. There are options available to take care of your medical situation and health. These options help you with your insurance, prescription, free medical consultation and , in some cases, even pay off your medical debt. We want people to learn and understand their options, before going down a specific path to manage their illness. We have summarized these options into four buckets. You can use our form to quickly check the ones that are applicable to your situation.
There are local and national resources that help people with financial aid to pay off their medical expenses. These resources have their own eligibility criteria. We have put together the list of these resources, along with their eligibility criteria. If you have a genuine medical emergency, we would recommend that you evaluate and contact these organizations. Below table provides information about some of the organizations:
Copay, Insurance & Financial Assistance
When you can’t afford the medication you need, the assisted fund is here to help. They manage more than 40 funds covering a wide range of serious and chronic diseases. You may receive assistance through multiple programs simultaneously, as long as funding is available.
Provide grants for:
- Copay Assistance: Offer copay assistance if you need help paying for your portion of your prescription medication after insurance has paid its portion.
- Health Care Expenses: Help you pay for your out-of-pocket premiums for eligible health insurance plans, as well as incidental healthcare expenses.
- Insurance Premium and Incidentals: These programs help you pay for your out-of-pocket premiums for eligible health insurance plans, as well as incidental healthcare expenses.
Disability, Insurance & Travel Assistance
Caring Voice Coalition is dedicated to improving the lives of people with chronic illnesses through comprehensive outreach programs, by offering empowering, supportive and comprehensive outreach services.
Programs offered:
- Health insurance counseling: Insurance specialists investigate, review and explain current health benefits. Work with all insurance types—commercial, government and exchanges—to resolve issues and help patients identify and explore sources of new or improved coverage.
- Disability assistance: Offers direct assistance and resource support to patients and caregivers navigating the complex process of applying for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits.
- Travel program: Helps you cover costs of travel related to eligible medical appointments or participation in clinical trials.
Medical Financial Assistance
The HealthWell Foundation is a non-profit dedicated to improving access to care for America’s underinsured. When health insurance is not enough, HealthWell fill the gap by assisting with copays, premiums, deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses.
Provide grants for:
- Prescription copays: Prescription Coupon
- Health insurance premiums, deductibles and coinsurance
- Pediatric treatment costs
- Travel costs
Medical Financial Assistance Programs
The Patient Access Network (PAN) Foundation is an organization dedicated to helping federally and commercially insured people living with life-threatening, chronic and rare diseases with the out-of-pocket costs for their prescribed medications.
Provide financial assistance for:
Offers nearly 70 disease-specific assistance programs to help patients pay for their out-of-pocket costs,
- Prescription copays: Prescription Coupon
- Health insurance premiums, deductibles and coinsurance
- Pediatric treatment costs
- Travel expenses
We ,at BenefitsExplorer, believe that people should not have to choose between medical treatment and their financial welfare. If any of these options help you in your medical emergency or needs, do share and spread the word.