Unisured With ME/CFS and/or Fibrmyalgia - Part 2 - Bloodwork

This post is the second in a series concerning financial strategies for those who've been diagnosed with a chronic illness, are uninsured and living on a low income.  Click below to see the original post:

What to Do When You're Diagnosed With ME/CFS and/or FMS and Don't Have Health Insurance

So, now you've seen the doctor and if you've found one who takes you seriously, he or she will probably have ordered a lot of expensive blood work in order to check for autoimmune diseases such as Lupus, Multiple Sclerosis, Sjogrens Syndrome and Rheumatoid Arthritis.  I'm still paying for blood work I had done over a year ago.  If you don't have insurance, you could find yourself receiving a bill from the lab for $2,000 or more.  I got some much needed advice regarding these invoices from a very unlikely source. 

After receiving the invoice for this very expensive blood work, I called Quest Diagnostics to set up a payment plan since there was no way I'd be paying the entire amount up front.  The customer service rep. I spoke with was truly a caring person and spent a lot of time with me.  If you've had any experience with similar situations, you know how incredibly rare this is.  She set up a payment plan for me then asked what my household income was.  I thought this was an unusual question but I answered it anyway.  She proceeded to tell me about Quest's financial aid program.  She said she would mail me the application form and I thanked her profusely for her help.  Sure enough, I received the application form in the mail a few days later, filled it out, attached the requested financial documents and mailed it out. 

The next invoice I received from Quest Diagnostics had a credit applied that equaled about half of the original amount due.  I was shocked and wished I'd remembered the name of the woman who was so helpful the first time I called.  This whole experience taught me an invaluable lesson that I would like to pass on to everyone else who's in a similar situation. 

The lesson is, to always ask if there's financial aid available no matter how unlikely it may seem at the time.  The worst they can say is "no".

The next post will cover prescription medications and ways to get them at a discounted rate or for free!

(Btw - this is post #95 - five more to go till 100 and 20% off everything at Catalina Inspired on Etsy.  Look for the coupon code in post # 100)