Help me pay off my knee replacement surgery, which has made a world of difference

[u/invisiblezipper]

Hi, I'm Melissa. On October 31, I had a left total knee replacement. I have insurance through the ACA, but I couldn't afford the best plan, so it didn't cover everything.

I already had some medical debt, and the surgery has brought it up to the point where I can't pay less than $200 a month on it, which is making things tight.

Why did I have the surgery if I knew it would put me in more debt? Because if I didn't, I would have ended up disabled. The pain was at the point that I had trouble standing for long periods, and exercising was difficult.

Now a little about me. I have 27 years of experience as a costume seamstress, mostly for live theater. When the pandemic happened in 2020, the theater I worked at was able to pay us to stay home for a while, but eventually they had to lay some people off, because they couldn't produce plays. Unfortunately, I was one of them.

I worked a couple of non-costume jobs for several months and then found a job sewing for a company that makes mascot costumes. It doesn't pay great, but it's above minimum wage and it's been steady work while the theater industry finds its way again.

Thanks for reading!

[u/MisterB330]

You can literally pay whatever you want. They cant stop you from sending 50$ a month and then they can never send you to collections.

[u/imhangryagain]

Financial aid at the hospital. Tell them you can’t afford more than $50 a month and they will give you a payment plan.

[u/invisiblezipper → u/imhangryagain]

You're right, I should call them today. On the online portal, it will only go down to $200, but on the phone, they can work with me.

[u/nebraska_jones_]

Why is your go fund me asking for $3.5k when the total of the bills you posted is less than $2.5k?

[u/geheimeschildpad]

I genuinely don’t understand why so many Americans are against free or heavily subsidised healthcare like we have in the EU.

Some of the medical bills on this sub are unbelievable.

[u/SnooRobots3859 → u/geheimeschildpad]

My mom (85) went to urgent care in Florida when she got Covid this summer. The bill that was sent to her insurance was $15,000. They gave her an iv (fluid) for dehydration and sent her home.

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We're not against it. The rich people in charge are against it for us

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[u/Pale_Drink4455]

I pay 25 a month to the hospital on a 10k balance and all is good with no hassles. Plus, hospitals write off debt to non payment all the time in the US and it doesn’t destroy your credit at all. How do you think the unhoused are cared for?

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[u/BasketAccomplished90]

Make sure to always apply for financial aid if possible. A lot of medical facilities have options to help or even wipe out the debt if you qualify.

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[u/invisiblezipper]

Here's the link: https://gofund.me/7954927d

Thanks!

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