If you’re lucky enough to have health insurance, emergency medical care isn’t going to break the bank. You will only have to pay between $50 and $150 in most cases to visit the emergency room at a hospital.
But if you don’t have medical insurance, it’s going to be a much different story. In this case, urgent medical care is often going to run you at least a few thousand dollars. And it isn’t uncommon at all for emergency medical expenses to cost tens of thousands of dollars in some instances.
So, what in the world are you supposed to do if you ever face emergency health costs like this? We’re going to discuss some of the different options you’ll have below.
Here are several ways that you can put yourself in a position to be able to afford ER medical care.
If you get hit with a big emergency medical care bill, the first thing you might want to think about doing is dipping into your savings account to pay for it. If you happen to have enough money in your account, it’ll make it possible for you to settle a medical debt right away.
Prior to doing this, you might want to try to negotiate your bill with a financial representative from a hospital. Many hospitals will entertain the idea of negotiating medical expenses with those who don’t have medical insurance.
But unfortunately, even if they negotiate medical bills down significantly, a lot of people still won’t be able to afford them. It’s why more than 100 million Americans currently have medical debts hanging over their heads. They simply don’t have enough cash saved up to pay for unanticipated emergency medical care.
If you know you aren’t going to be able to take care of an emergency medical care bill, another option might be putting your health costs on a credit card. You probably have at least one or two credit cards sitting in your wallet with available balances on them.
Just like when you pay for medical expenses with cash from your savings account, you should be able to work out a negotiated price for medical care with a hospital. It never hurts to ask if they would be willing to bring your health costs down in exchange for immediate payment.
There will, however, will one big problem with paying for emergency medical care with a credit card: The interest rates on most credit cards will make it almost impossible for you to pay off your credit card balance in a reasonable amount of time.
This would explain why so many people have so much credit card debt. Recent reports have revealed that the average American has more than $6,000 worth of credit card debt at the moment.
Because of this, you might want to steer clear of putting a medical care bill on your credit card. You may not be able to pay a medical debt down anytime soon when you take this approach to deal with it.
Do you have a family member that might be willing to lend you the money that you’ll need to cover emergency medical costs? You may want to give some thought to asking them if they would foot the bill for emergency medical care for you and then pay them back at a later date.
This isn’t always a great solution for those trying to figure out how to afford emergency medical care, though. It could potentially create some tension between you and your family member, especially if you take too long to pay them back.
A recent survey found that more people are open to borrowing money from family and friends these days than in past years. But even still, this shouldn’t be your No. 1 option.
One of the final options you’ll have when facing emergency medical care expenses will be taking out a personal loan. It’s so easy to apply for and get approved for a personal loan in this day and age.
As long as you’re willing to shop around for a personal loan, you should be able to find one with a great interest rate on it. You should also be able to locate a personal loan with terms that will work with your budget.
If you decide to go in this direction, you will still want to hold a hospital’s feet to the fire and try to talk them into lowering your emergency medical care bill. But no matter how high your bill might be, you should be able to get approved for a personal loan so that you can afford it.
There are pros and cons associated with all the different options that we just laid out for you as far as how you can cover the costs associated with emergency medical care. But taking out a personal loan will be the best option of the bunch when it comes right down to it.
You won’t have to empty out your savings account, if you even have one when you take out a personal loan to pay for medical expenses. You also won’t have to stick your medical costs on a high-interest credit card.
You won’t have to worry about bothering your fellow family members for money, either, when you apply for a personal loan. It’ll help you get your hands on the money you need fast so that you can get medical costs squared away and be done with them for good.
Does taking out a personal loan for ER medical care sound like a good option to you? If it does, you’ll love how simple it is to secure a personal loan that you can use to pay down medical debt.
Here are the only steps you’ll have to take to put in an application for a personal loan:
You can do all this in a matter of just a day or two and have the money that you need to cover an emergency medical care bill in no time at all. You’ll love how convenient taking out a personal loan will be.
The beauty of taking out a personal loan to pay for an emergency medical care bill is that you’ll be able to have some control over how long it takes you to pay it back.
If you would like to try to repay a personal loan within a matter of just months, that will be an option. But if you would like to spread the payments for a personal loan out over several years, that will also be something that you can do.
You’ll typically be able to choose what your repayment period for a personal loan will look like so that you can plan accordingly. You’ll appreciate this, and you’ll find that it’ll make it a little easier to bite the bullet and take care of your ER health costs once and for all.
Are you struggling to figure out how you’re going to be able to afford emergency medical care? This has, unfortunately, turned into an issue for many Americans over the years.
We would love to help you solve this problem by providing you with a personal loan that will make it possible for you to cover any health costs you might have. You’ll be able to sleep better at night knowing that you won’t have a hospital or a collections agency calling you all the time.
Touch base with us today to get more information on our personal loans and read our other articles on emergency loans.