SO many people have no idea that some of their most overwhelming medical bills can be significantly reduced through existing programs that are specifically designed to help. Learning from you, I suggested to a chronically ill friend she ask her clinic what they could do. Turns out: a lot. They could cover almost all of her scans and tests, as well as a hefty portion of her treatments. (Some of which she was foregoing, because she couldn't afford them.) Like you said: aaaaasssskk!
It's WRONG that the hospitals and clinics don't tell anyone this, so thank you for spreading the word for them! GOOD. Nobody should miss treatment because of bills.
Sometimes insurance will assign you a patient advocate if you ask, and sometimes if insurance won’t, the clinic will. While their job isn’t discounts, they can sometimes make a bill up and disappear.
I'd love to hear more about this if you've been able to make it work! When I called and asked for this, BCBS acted super confused, like they didn't even know what I was asking for. But the wisdom remains, always ask!
I absolutely have made it work. When it was assigned by my health insurance, I was with Aetna or an affiliate of them, at the time. I also had this work at the Clinic level with Rockwood Clinic in Spokane. Aetna assigned my Nurse Advocate after some weird billing snarl. I didn't have to ask (NICE!) With Rockwood, I did have to ask.
Googling indicates that access to such a thing may be dictated by the level of insurance you have and where you live. (Siiiigh.) It can be called a Nurse Advocate, a Health Advocate, a Nurse Support program. The larger the clinic/hospital system, the more likely it appears to have such resources (E.g. a big conglomerate will have this, but Podunkyville Clinic with two locations probably won't.) It also looks like this is often a feature of University-adjacent health system/teaching hospitals where they may be keeping up with the times better.
I would say that the best way to figure this out is download the PDF of your healthcare coverage agreement and ctrl-f for "Advocate" and the terms I've laid out here. If you can ask for this, it should be in there, and it should explain how to access the program.
That one reader who said the Ally link worked on desktop but not phone was me, and I’m here to tell you that the $1k minimum deposit is only for the investment account, not the savings account. There is no minimum at all for the savings account; you just have to make three months in a row of automatic deposits, of any amount, before they give you the $100. It’s easy peasy! Thanks Kira for turning us on to that, and I hope you get your $50 soon.
I wanted to also say that my husband has called Sirius XM every year politely threatening to cancel because their fees keep going up (this year it would have been $22/month), and they keep extending his subscription for $5/month, no joke. Year after year. It just takes a phone call, folks.
Another hot tip from hot husband: if you have Amazon Prime and were promised two-day shipping but your item comes on the third day or later, call to complain. They typically extend your Prime membership by one month! One year, he called to complain each time this happened and we got like another seven months out of our Prime membership.
Kira’s right - all you have to do is ask, or gently complain. No need to be an asshat!
Amy, thank you for reading the fine print on Ally! You're a gem. I hope they give you some extra moolah soon too! I've really loved Ally, the bucket feature is genius.
One thing that absolutely can work with local and small businesses is a cash discount. They don't have to pay transaction fees (which can add up!) It's usually not a big discount, but it's definitely worth asking if you are dropping a larger amount. (Sometimes it only applies to a larger amount.) So if you do frequent a bunch of Mom-n-pops, consider asking if they do a small discount for cash when making larger purchases. (Five bucks, my friend, is five bucks.)
SO many people have no idea that some of their most overwhelming medical bills can be significantly reduced through existing programs that are specifically designed to help. Learning from you, I suggested to a chronically ill friend she ask her clinic what they could do. Turns out: a lot. They could cover almost all of her scans and tests, as well as a hefty portion of her treatments. (Some of which she was foregoing, because she couldn't afford them.) Like you said: aaaaasssskk!
It's WRONG that the hospitals and clinics don't tell anyone this, so thank you for spreading the word for them! GOOD. Nobody should miss treatment because of bills.
Sometimes insurance will assign you a patient advocate if you ask, and sometimes if insurance won’t, the clinic will. While their job isn’t discounts, they can sometimes make a bill up and disappear.
I'd love to hear more about this if you've been able to make it work! When I called and asked for this, BCBS acted super confused, like they didn't even know what I was asking for. But the wisdom remains, always ask!
I absolutely have made it work. When it was assigned by my health insurance, I was with Aetna or an affiliate of them, at the time. I also had this work at the Clinic level with Rockwood Clinic in Spokane. Aetna assigned my Nurse Advocate after some weird billing snarl. I didn't have to ask (NICE!) With Rockwood, I did have to ask.
Googling indicates that access to such a thing may be dictated by the level of insurance you have and where you live. (Siiiigh.) It can be called a Nurse Advocate, a Health Advocate, a Nurse Support program. The larger the clinic/hospital system, the more likely it appears to have such resources (E.g. a big conglomerate will have this, but Podunkyville Clinic with two locations probably won't.) It also looks like this is often a feature of University-adjacent health system/teaching hospitals where they may be keeping up with the times better.
I would say that the best way to figure this out is download the PDF of your healthcare coverage agreement and ctrl-f for "Advocate" and the terms I've laid out here. If you can ask for this, it should be in there, and it should explain how to access the program.
That one reader who said the Ally link worked on desktop but not phone was me, and I’m here to tell you that the $1k minimum deposit is only for the investment account, not the savings account. There is no minimum at all for the savings account; you just have to make three months in a row of automatic deposits, of any amount, before they give you the $100. It’s easy peasy! Thanks Kira for turning us on to that, and I hope you get your $50 soon.
I wanted to also say that my husband has called Sirius XM every year politely threatening to cancel because their fees keep going up (this year it would have been $22/month), and they keep extending his subscription for $5/month, no joke. Year after year. It just takes a phone call, folks.
Another hot tip from hot husband: if you have Amazon Prime and were promised two-day shipping but your item comes on the third day or later, call to complain. They typically extend your Prime membership by one month! One year, he called to complain each time this happened and we got like another seven months out of our Prime membership.
Kira’s right - all you have to do is ask, or gently complain. No need to be an asshat!
Amy, thank you for reading the fine print on Ally! You're a gem. I hope they give you some extra moolah soon too! I've really loved Ally, the bucket feature is genius.
YES love that your husband is already one of us.
One thing that absolutely can work with local and small businesses is a cash discount. They don't have to pay transaction fees (which can add up!) It's usually not a big discount, but it's definitely worth asking if you are dropping a larger amount. (Sometimes it only applies to a larger amount.) So if you do frequent a bunch of Mom-n-pops, consider asking if they do a small discount for cash when making larger purchases. (Five bucks, my friend, is five bucks.)
Yes! My dentist does a 5% discount if you pay with a check or cash. When your teeth explode as much as mine, that adds up.
Thanks so much for this information! (And it's tuchus, tuches, or tuchas. I grew up with the first spelling. 😁)