Medical Bills: Everything You Need to Know About Your Rights
Authors
Patricia Kelmar, JD
Senior Director, Health Care Campaigns, U.S. PIRG Education Fund
Miriam Straus
Policy Advisor, Community Catalyst
Quynh Chi Nguyen
Associate Director, Center for Community Engagement in Health Innovation at Community Catalyst
We are grateful for to the following individuals for their support and input on this updated version:
April Kuehnhoff
Senior Attorney, Health Care Campaigns, National Consumer Law Center
Chi Chi Wu
Director of Consumer Reporting and Data Advocacy, National Consumer Law Center
Introduction
Your one-stop guide to understand and fight your medical bills
Health care prices are at an all-time high and continue to grow. Even if you have health insurance, more medical bills may become your financial responsibility. You may find yourself paying for a monthly health insurance premium in addition to an annual deductible, copays, and coinsurance for each visit to the doctor’s office or hospital. If you are one of the millions of people in the United States who do not have health insurance, you are forced to pay the full amount of every single doctor’s visit, blood draw, or E.R. trip — which is no small thing, considering the average price of a routine doctor’s visit is between $300 to $600 alone.
These costs can be devastating to your financial security. In fact, nearly four in ten people in the U.S. have medical debt. Black adults report a disproportionate amount of medical debt compared to white adults, and women — particularly those who have recently given birth — are more likely to report medical debt. Medical debt is also more common among people with disabilities.
Medical debt can lead to home foreclosures, personal bankruptcies, and reduced credit scores. It also has health-related consequences, like delaying a medically necessary treatment due to the cost.
That’s why it’s so important to learn how to handle your medical bills and avoid unnecessary billing charges. In some cases, you may even need to fight an illegal or incorrect medical bill.
This guide is meant to help you navigate medical bills and other common charges in health care settings — like when you need emergency care, are scheduling care at a hospital, or are faced with unaffordable medical bills. Select the subject that applies to you to learn more.
Language Access
If English is not your primary language, you have the right to request and receive language assistance when receiving health care. You may ask for an interpreter and/or translation of key documents related to your medical services, including medical bills, financial assistance, consent forms, good faith estimates required under the No Surprises Act, and instructions related to medical procedures or operations.
See an overview on language access rights in health care and additional information here. The American Translators Association has downloadable cards that you can use in hospitals or other health care settings to request assistance in your language.
In Partnership With
About the Authors
Patricia Kelmar, JD
Patricia is an attorney and advocate directing high value health care campaigns work for U.S. PIRG Education Fund and U.S. PIRG. PIRG is a federation of independent, state-based, citizen-funded Public Interest Research Groups in 25 states, whose role is to find common ground around solutions that will make our future healthier, safer and more secure.
Quỳnh Chi Nguyễn
Quỳnh Chi is an Associate Director for the Center for Community Engagement in Health Innovation at Community Catalyst. In this role, Quỳnh Chi oversees two major projects on community benefits and economic stability, and hospital equity and accountability. She also supports local and state health advocacy organizations that are working to improve economic stability. She has expertise in several policy areas, including affordability, health insurance coverage, prescription drug costs, and health justice.
Miriam Straus
Miriam Straus is a Policy Advisor at Community Catalyst. In this role, Miriam focuses on medical debt and the cost of health care. She advises advocates and policymakers on issues such as hospital financial assistance, protections against harmful collection practices, and considerations around health care consolidation.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the following individuals for their input and support:
Julia Char Gilbert
Connelly Policy Advocate
Colorado Center on Law and Policy
Nicolas Cordova
Attorney, Healthcare Director
New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty
Berneta L. Haynes
Senior Attorney
National Consumer Law Center
Sherrell Byrd
Founder and Executive Director
SOWEGA Rising
