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Meredith Balogh has spent years studying to navigate the monetary facet of the well being care system.
Balogh, who has Type 1 diabetes, has saved herself and her household many hundreds of dollars. She has made a behavior — even a passion — of serving to others: individuals with diabetes, co-workers and strangers on the web.
“There’s only three things that you’re fighting,” she stated. “Problems with competence, problems with greed and problems with maliciousness. And, luckily, most things are incompetence.”
Balogh stated she has by no means had some huge cash, and for years she didn’t have medical insurance. But she has develop into a grasp at climbing what she calls the “billing info ladder.”
“I do this for fun!” she stated, laughing.
She checks in on boards like Reddit’s r/HospitalBills in quest of individuals to assist.
Online, Balogh sagely shares her ninja methods for negotiating with a physician’s workplace or discovering the proper factor to say if you name a hospital billing division. Words like “charity care” and “financial aid” are key.
“You are negotiating for your life, be polite ALWAYS, maybe cry a little, but keep asking,” she instructed one individual on Reddit.
Season three’s Episode 2 of “An Arm and a Leg” begins with Balogh’s story however ends on a private notice: It seems saving practically $800 in your medical invoice is kinda romantic.
Season three is a co-production of Kaiser Health News and Public Road Productions.
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