I joined Minti in early November of 2008, just a few days after finding out that I was pregnant with my first child.  Just a few days after that, I began spotting.  I didn't have any cramping or pain until the next day, when the spotting got heavy enough to be considered bleeding.

I didn't have any insurance at the time, but I ended up in the emergency room for about 5 hours that night.  I had talked to a doctor at the local clinic before going to the hospital, and she assured me that even if I had no insurance I would be covered by our state's health care system.  My assets wouldn't matter at all when the application was processed, since I was pregnant.

I completed the application while I was waiting for the results of my blood tests to be processed, and submitted it a few days afterward.  About a week later, I was told that I was denied because I could not provide a positive pregnancy test.  It didn't matter that I had been pregnant when I completed the application and sought treatment: because I had suffered a miscarriage, I just didn't deserve the assistance.

I don't know which was harder to deal with: the fact that I miscarried, or the fact that the total I now owed the hospital, the radiologist, and the emergency physician totalled almost $3,000.  For someone who's been mostly living paycheck to paycheck, it was devastating.  I had no idea how I was going to come up with that amount of money, especially in the month I was given to do it.

One of my coworkers suggested that I call the hospital, the radiologist, and the physician's billing numbers to try to work out  a payment plan.  Since I couldn't come up with the full amount I owed them, she suggested that they would accept smaller monthly payments until the entire balance was paid off.  I took her advice and called the hospital first, expecting to just try to negotiate a monthly payment plan.  When I explained my situation to the representative that answered the phone, she suggested that I consider applying for patient financial aid.  She asked me a few simple questions about my household's income and our monthly expenses, and all I had to do was bring in a copy of my husband's and my own most recent pay stubs.

The radiologist and emergency physician didn't offer similar plans, but I was able to work out payment plans that will allow me to have both paid off in approximately six months.  It really took a load off of me, and about a month after I applied for the hospital's patient financial aid, I had a response: I had been approved for the full amount I owed.