Digging for Dollars: Finding Health Care Financial Assistance

A Health Affairs study found that in 2005, health care spending grew by 7.4 percent, much faster than growth in the economy and workers' wages. For the fifth year in a row, employers in 2006 increased patient cost sharing, through higher deductibles, copayments and coinsurance, as a way to cope with high premium increases. As a result, it is estimated that 45 million Americans had no health insurance at some point during the last year.

Here are some resources that offer financial assistance for a variety of health-related needs, including health insurance, negotiating costs with medical providers, services for people with disabilities, prescription drug programs, medical assistance for international travelers, and programs for participating in new medicine and therapy research. You can also learn how to protect the privacy of your medical records.

National Association of Health Underwriters
Many Americans need to obtain health care services but may have trouble paying for them. This section provides comprehensive information about all of the major federal and state programs to provide coverage assistance to individuals age 65 and under. It includes specifics and contact information for large-scale programs like Medicaid, the State Children's Health Insurance Program and the federal Health Care Tax Credit Program. In addition, this section contains overviews and contacts for the hundreds of smaller state and federal-level and private programs that provide coverage assistance and services to specific populations. This section may be a particularly helpful resource to people with lower incomes who are either uninsured or under-insured, and to people who are looking for either primary care or preventive assistance or help with a serious medical condition, as many of these programs target those groups. http://www.nahu.org/consumer/healthcare/