It does not matter how bad your financial situation seems to be, The Medical Bill Survival Guide will provide you with the knowledge to help yourself or your loved one. Medical bill anxiety is caused by miscommunications and misunderstandings. This book teaches easy, effective strategies for working with insurance companies, hospitals, doctors, and other healthcare providers. #13;

Nicholas Newsad, MHSA, is a senior analyst at a national healthcare management company. He holds a master’s degree in hospital and health service administration from Xavier University. He lives in Westminster, Colorado.

Introduction	p. vii
Things to know if you have insurance	p. 1
Health Insurance 101	p. 1
Deductibles	p. 2
Copays	p. 3
Coinsurance	p. 3
Understanding in-network and out-of-network	p. 3
Why insurance may not pay and what to do about it	p. 4
Incorrect policy number, enrollee number, or patient birth date	p. 5
Service not provided during enrollment period	p. 5
Service not a benefit in the enrollee's benefit plan	p. 5
Pre-existing medical conditions	p. 7
Not medically necessary	p. 9
Experimental treatment	p. 9
Things to know if you don't have insurance	p. 11
Overview	p. 11
Public Health Programs	p. 11
Medicare	p. 14
Medicaid	p. 19
SCHIP	p. 23
COBRA: Did you lose your job?	p. 24
Charity Care: What type of provider did you see?	p. 25
Minnesota	p. 27
California	p. 27
Illinois	p. 28
Getting organized	p. 31
How to develop a system for tracking bills and payments and EOBs	p. 31
How to use bills and EOBs to get control of your situation	p. 32
How to read a medical bill	p. 34
What ôchargesö really mean in healthcare	p. 36
What ôinsurance discountö or ôcontractual allowanceö means	p. 37
Itemized vs. unitemized	p. 37
Deductibles, copays, and coinsurance	p. 37
Days delinquent, last payment, new charges	p. 38
How to read an EOB	p. 38
Putting it together	p. 40
How to talk to billers productively	p. 41
The difference between billers and collection agencies	p. 41
Why you want to stay out of collections	p. 42
Who billers are	p. 42
Five things not to say to a biller	p. 44
Inability to pay vs. unwillingness to pay	p. 46
Five things billers look for	p. 46
How to talk to a biller	p. 48
Five things that every biller will consider	p. 49
Payment plans	p. 49
Poverty	p. 51
Catastrophic medical episode	p. 58
Employment status	p. 56
Uninsured	p. 56
Legal Implication of Financial Aid and Insured Patients	p. 57
How to get out of collections	p. 58
Other Issues	p. 61
Elective vs. non-elective care	p. 61
Escalating	p. 63
Balance billing	p. 65
Physicians	p. 67
Other Resources	p. 71
Online insurance portal	p. 71
Patient financing companies	p. 71
The Foundation for Health Coverage Education	p. 72
The author's website and community forum	p. 73
Appendix	p. 75
Medicaid & SCHIP eligibility	p. 75
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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