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What do we do about unexpected medical bills?

My husband and I have been with Blue Cross for the past year. His company decided to switch to United healthcare. My husband was told we would have blue cross until the end of January. I came down with strep and had to go to the doctor. They gave me a shot and did some lab work while I was there. I also had separate lab work a couple weeks ago because I'm on accutane. I also had a couple prescriptions filled. I found out after all of this that our insurance ended the end of December. Our new insurance has a $3000 deductible- so even if it's retroactive I'll still be paying out of pocket for all my medical care this month. So......I'm guessing all the bills could be as high as $2500. ( Labs are apparently very expensive) Hopefully I'm wrong about how much it will all cost. If I'm right though......what would be the best way to pay it? We could probably only afford to pay $100 a month and I'm assuming they won't let us break up the payments that much. What the heck should we do? We've always had such good credit. My stomach is in knots. :(

Public Comments

1. You'll just have to do the best you can. Having good credit doesn't help - having a "rainy day" or "emergency" fund, that helps. You'll have to add that $3,000 deductible to your budget, so you have it - every year.
2. Generally, if the total cost was $2500, if you have insurance, that amount will be reduce to the insurance carrier's negotiated amount. Then it's applied to the deductible. So maybe if they're $2500, your amount will be something like $1900. And then be in contact with the entities that you owe - tell them what you can afford to pay, and send in monthly payments. As long as you talk to them, and start paying, they will be happy, and your credit will be just fine.
3. If you can't afford to pay the uncovered amount, work out payment plans with the providers. Do not ignore the bills.
4. so they lied to yo and the new insurance has a 3,000 dollar deducatbale. wow, is that a group plan, that's a high deductable. you could make payment arrangemnts maybe with them. sorry to hear this.
5. If your husband's company has a Flexible Spending Account Plan in place, take advantage of this in the future if the 3,000 upfront deductible will continue for the next years.