I received a blessing today and I had to share the news. Back in March I was hospitalized for an infection around my heart. I was having chest pains and felt like someone was sitting on my chest. I couldn't breathe and couldn't catch my breath, so I went to an after-hours clinic since I wasn't eligible for my insurance yet.After arriving at the clinic and having chest x-rays and an EKG, he found an abnormality with my heart and told me I needed to go to the ER as soon as possible. I told him I didn't have health insurance and couldn't afford it. He said he wouldn't charge me for my visit but I had to go or he was going to put me on an ambulance and send me himself since I had signs of a heart attack.
After going to the ER, they diagnosed me with bronchitis and periocarditis, which is an infection around the heart. I was given breathing treatments, an inhaler and numerous medications to take.
I was dreading the gynormous hospital bill that was to follow. I received it a few weeks later and it was almost $2000. I just cried and cried. There was no way I could afford that. I contacted the hospital and they told me they did have a program that offered assistance to those in need. They would offer between 10 & 90% assistance depending on your needs. I thought it was worth a shot.
I filled out the paper work back in April or May and never heard anything. I called numerous times and they just kept telling me they had received my paperwork but hadn't processed it yet. So in the meantime, I started to pay about $50 each month towards the hospital bill and $25 towards my doctor's bill.
I hadn't received the doctor's bill in a couple months, and I didn't get one of my payments out for the hospital bill in September since it got lost in the move. I didn't really think much about it until my mom called today telling me I had received a letter in the mail from the hospital. I immediately started panicking. She asked me if I was behind on my payments, and I had told her that I was still paying the hospital but the doctor bills quit coming. I just knew it was a letter informing me that they had turned me over to collections or something. I asked my mom to open it and I joked, "It's probably them telling me that I didn't qualify for assistance and I have to pay out my bill..."
She laughed and said, "No. It says that after reviewing your file and paperwork we have decided to give you 100% assistance."
I was in shock. I couldn't believe it. I didn't have to pay on my hospital bill anymore. I just saved myself $1500 in bills that I was stressing out over how I was going to pay!
I really think God is watching out for me. He knows I am trying to better my life for me and Zoie, and I am doing the best I can to be a good mom to her. This is just one less thing for me to stress about and I can focus on giving Zoie what she needs.
Like the saying goes... God will never give you more than you can handle. That is definitely true.
Just had to share.
