SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Medical bills are becoming a major financial burden for Americans as they can quickly stack up from doctor visits to labs to procedures. But there are financial options available if you fall behind.
Even as a young girl, Selena Barro wanted to become a computer engineer. That's what she was studying at UCLA when she suddenly got sick.
"I'm really passionate about computers and making software that impacts people," Barro said.
"I was experiencing some symptoms where I was like passing out and fainting randomly and it was a little scary," she said.
She was sent to a number of specialists and had to undergo further testing. She thought her insurance was going to cover the medical attention, but she was wrong.
"I was still in school. I had to, you know, still worry about paying rent and my bills and everything else, and then I was just handed all these like medical bills. I didn't really know how to deal with it," Barro said.
Barro ended up with $5,000 in medical debt on top of the debt she was already working to pay off.
"At one point I was so scared I had to pull out a little bit of student loans just kind of like as a safety cushion in case I didn't have enough money to pay for it," she said.
She's not alone. About 14 million people owe more than $1,000 in medical debt, according to Bankrate.com, a personal finance website. Americans rack up a total of $220 billion in medical debt a year.
Barro says she reached out to her bank for help and was sent to Money Management International, a nonprofit credit and housing counseling agency which provides counseling and financial education.
Thomas Nitzsche, who is a spokesperson for the agency, says if you fall into this situation, make sure you ask questions.
"First of all try to become an expert of your own situation. Use tools like ChatGPT or Reddit has a great debt-free community. These are places where you can go anonymously and safely," Nitzsche said.
"You can start to get your brain around what is possible, what are the next steps you should do. Another common thing is errors in medical billing. It's important to ask for a detailed bill so that you understand what it is you're being billed for, make sure there aren't any mistakes," he said.
Next, Nitzsche says check in with your insurance company making sure that all the benefits that are due to you have been paid out to the provider. Also ask about a payment plan or financial assistance, as many people qualify for help and may not know it.
Nitzsche adds if you can avoid placing your entire bill on a credit card because you may end up paying more because of interest. If you still need assistance, Nitzsche suggests talking to a professional financial educator to come up with a plan to get you back on track.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
