Tremendous Hospital Bill

[Guest guest]

Dear ,

My heart bleeds for you and the rest of our members who cannot afford

insurance. Have you heard from the clinic that might include you as a patient

in a trial? Find out if that hospital you went to is partially supported by

Hill-Burton funds. There should be a plaque in the lobby, it is the law. If

so, they cannot charge you if you are indigent. If they didn't receive

Hill-Burton funds, I would try to speak to the CEO himself to see if you can

strike a deal to lower the payments and explain your predicament.

If there is a St. de organization, anywhere around where you live,

ask if they have medical assistance and the drugs are given to you free. Are

you paying for any of your CML meds? There are also several Patient Assistance

web sites. When you google patient assistance programs, they will have several

come up. Also the pharcaceuticals themselves have patients assistance, but you

have to apply to each one separately in most cases. If you have generic, then

WalMart will charge $4 for most and $10 for a 3 month supply. You can call the

other drugs stores to see if they have the same deal, like the big box drug

stores. Also Costco. If you lived in Florida, Publix gives some of their drugs

away, but they are not mainstream drugs. Don't give up searching.

I don't know if you have tried any of them, but I just googled " free

prescription drugs " and up came an application. For anyone who is interested, I

will post it for your convenience:

http://www.scbn.org/?gclid=CK-97KKEjpsCFQEuxwodkk7Jnw

Social workers who work with cancer patients in need of assistance:

http://www.aosw.org/power/html/vislogin.php

Earlanger Hospital in Chatanooga is supposed to offer free medical care if you

qualify.

Charity Care or uncompensated care is available to all patients who wish to

apply. Financial Counselors are available to assist our patients in making

applications for charity care, which is available for those who earn up to 250%

of Federal Poverty Guidelines. In addition to assisting with charity care,

staff is available to patients in determining eligibility for programs such as

TennCare or Medicaid. One of the functions of the Financial Counselors is to

assist uninsured patients in determining a source of payment.

http://www.erlanger.org/body.cfm?id=28

Good luck, keep us posted and remember, we will leave the light on for you.

Hands and hearts,

Lottie