• Raising Funds For Medical Expenses
• How to Ask For Donations For Medical Expenses
• GoFundMe Medical Expenses Examples
• Fundraising For Medical Treatment Messages
• Hospital Bill Fundraising Card
• Is it Hard to Raise Money For Medical Bills?
• Why do People Need to Raise Money For Medical Treatment?
• Which is The Best Way to Raise Money For Medical Expenses?
• How Can I Raise Money For Cancer Treatment?
• How to Save Money on Your Medical Bills
• Fundraiser For Medical Expenses
• Best Fundraising Sites For Medical Expenses
• Fund Raising Ideas to Cover Medical Expenses
• 5 Effective Tips to Raise Money Online For Medical Bills
• How to Raise Money For Unexpected Medical Bills
• How Can I Get Help With my Medical Bills?
• How Does Crowdfunding Help Raise Money For Medical Bills?
• Free Money For Medical Bills
• Advantages of Fundraising website
• Steps to pay Medical bills through Grant Money
• Benefits of governmental Grants Medical bills program

Raising Funds For Medical Expenses

Your health is your most valuable possession—but what happens when preserving it costs you a fortune? You wouldn’t be alone if you’re trying to figure out how to pay medical bills. According to the Commonwealth Fund, 41% of American adults have problems paying off medical debt.

Many have discovered that their family and friends are invested in their wellness and want to support their medical care. And crowdfunding is a quick and simple way to find emergency financial assistance for themselves or others. 

Read Also: What Are The Multiple Streams of Income?

When people are faced with a sudden medical hardship, they’re often left wondering how to pay for expensive medical treatments and how to avoid medical bankruptcy. People use medical fundraising to raise money for a wide variety of medical-related expenses, from cancer and IVF treatments to surgery costs—and everything in between. Crowdfunding can ease financial stress and allow you to focus on healing. 

• Medical crowdfunding helps spread your story among your family, friends, their friends, and even strangers who want to support you during a difficult time.
• When you don’t know how to get financial help for out of pocket medical expenses, crowdfunding makes it simple. 
• Crowdfunding can get you the funds you need fast when you’re facing mounting medical bills. You can begin withdrawing funds as soon as you start receiving donations.
• Crowdfunding can help spread awareness about certain medical conditions and the healthcare system.

If you’re new to crowdfunding, you might not know how to set up a fundraiser for medical bills. While the below advice will help you create a compelling fundraiser, remember that the most important part is simply getting started.

1. Ask a trusted friend or family member to help write your fundraiser

Asking for help takes pressure off the patient, who should be focused on healing not raising money. You may find that someone else can often tell your story better than you. Having an outside perspective of what you’re going through can be beneficial when writing a fundraiser story.

2. Don’t be afraid to tell your story

While making yourself vulnerable can be scary, writing your fundraiser story honestly and thoroughly will help people connect to your cause. The more people can understand the reality of your medical situation, the more they’ll be willing to donate to your fundraiser. A unique fundraiser title can also help catch people’s attention right away and encourage them to read more about why you need financial help. 

3. Tell your story through photos

When it comes to adding visual elements to your story, photos are powerful fundraising tools and can take your fundraiser to the next level. It can be difficult to post photos of yourself when going through such a difficult time, but photos can draw people into your world and allow them to empathize with your story. 

Fundraisers that include multiple photos also raise significantly more than fundraisers that include only one. Including photos of medical bills may help people fully understand your plight, but you should cover or otherwise remove any sensitive information you don’t want shared.

4. Share your fundraiser on social media

Social media gives you the power to reach family, friends, and even strangers around the globe. The best way to get started is to ask your network of friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers to share your fundraiser on their social media accounts. Doing this can exponentially increase the number of people viewing your fundraiser. 

When sharing with your own network, keep the social media post brief and always include a link to your fundraiser; this makes it easy for people to donate in just a few clicks.

5. Share beyond social media

While social media is an important part of fundraising success, fundraising without social media can extend your reach in different ways. 

Personalized outreaches can make a huge difference when sharing your fundraiser. If you aren’t sure where to begin, start by emailing, texting, or calling a few close friends. Getting some initial support can encourage others to donate. If you’re having trouble finding the words to ask for financial help, fundraising email templates provide a lot of ideas and help you get started. 

6. Keep everyone in the loop

As you begin to receive donations, your supporters will be curious about how you’re doing. Have their donations been helpful? Are the medical treatments going well? You can answer these questions through updates. 

You can use updates as an opportunity to share progress, setbacks, or words of gratitude that will keep your supporters engaged with your cause.

7. Show your gratitude

It may seem trivial, but thanking your donors is one of the most important actions you can take when fundraising because it helps them feel appreciated. Thanking your donors can be as simple as posting a mass update to the fundraiser, or you can write individual donation thank-you letters for a personal touch that can have an even bigger impact. Gratitude doesn’t have to end at letters and emails, though.

How to Ask For Donations For Medical Expenses

Crowdfunding through GoFundMe is becoming an immensely popular way for organizations and individuals alike to raise money for health- and medical-related causes. Whether you’re trying to raise money for cancer awareness or to cover your expenses for an important surgery, you can start a campaign!

In fact, your cause has the potential to go viral and reach even more supporters. It’s not uncommon for crowdfunding campaigns to reach (or even exceed!) their fundraising goal in a short period. 

Of course, a lot of preparation goes into running a successful campaign. And what better way to learn about reaching your goal than from an accomplished fundraiser?

We’ll look at the Rhett Laubach’s Family Medical Fund to show you the components that make a well thought-out crowdfunding campaign if you’re raising money for health- and medical-related causes.

Three factors play into a successful crowdfunding campaign:

1. A compelling description
2. Thoughtful images
3. Social sharing

1. A compelling description

Potential donors will learn more about your campaign and why they should contribute through your crowdfunding description. Since there are so many different reasons to raise money for health- and medical-related causes, you need to be specific about why you’re raising funds. 

Not only should you answer why you’re fundraising but also highlight the person you’re raising funds for. Generally, crowdfunding campaigns for health expenses are centered around the person undergoing medical treatment.

Crowdfunding description example:

The Rhett Laubach’s family fund was created after Rhett, a husband and father, was diagnosed with a meningioma brain tumor. The funds raised from this campaign helped support Rhett’s family and cover his medical expenses.

Take a look at the following example to see how this campaign’s description does quite a few things successfully:

First, the opening sentence immediately grabs readers’ attention. The first line, “You don’t have to; you get to” leaves donor curious for what that means. The next paragraph gives more background on Rhett’s personality, which connects donors to his cause and, hopefully, encourages them to donate.

After a few more paragraphs dedicated to Rhett’s character and situation, the author goes on to explain how the funds will be used:

The description is direct and specific, stating that those who want to show their support can do so by donating.

This description does a great job of explaining the cause — so much so that they were able to raise $14,117, exceeding their goal of $10,000!

Best practices to follow for your campaign:

Now that you understand why Rhett’s campaign was so successful, it’s time to see how you can use the same techniques.

Use the following best practices to create a captivating description:

• Hook your readers with an engaging first sentence. You can start your description with a quote or scene that helps illustrate your cause and the person you’re fundraising for.
• Focus on the person in need. While it’s important to explain the person’s medical situation, you should also use your description to highlight the individual’s accomplishments and personality. As these are the elements that will evoke your donors’ emotions.
• Explain how the funds will be used. Donors will expect to know how you plan to use the funds, and they’ll be more likely to give when you’re specific. Be direct with donors and let them know that their support will make an impact.

2. Thoughtful images

An image is the first thing that your donors see when they encounter your crowdfunding page.

Plus, images add an engaging component to your campaign. Supporters can visualize the person and the life they’re supporting. 

As such, it’s important that you not only include an image but also pick one that represents your health- or medical-related cause.

Crowdfunding photo example:

Let’s see how the Rhett Laubach campaign uses images to improve their crowdfunding page:

As soon as readers land on the page, they immediately see a picture of the Laubach family. Not only is the photo relevant to the cause, as the campaign was created to raise money for his wife and children while Rhett was unable to work, but it’s also a good quality image.

This is the first image that the author decided to show, but the arrows indicate that there are even more images donors can scroll through. Each photo is of Rhett and his family, connecting potential donors to the cause and speaking to their emotions.

Best practices to follow for your campaign:

As you can see, images help evoke donors’ emotions and connect them to the people the cause supports.

When you create your crowdfunding page, you should always include at least one photo to enhance your campaign and make it feel unique.

Here are a few best practices to consider when choosing which pictures to use:

• Order photos chronologically. You wouldn’t want to start a book by reading the end first. The same goes for your campaign images. If you’re raising money for health-related causes, create a cohesive timeline (with before and after images) so donors can see the complete story.
• Pick good quality images. You don’t need fancy equipment to make high-quality photos. Just make sure to take pictures with natural lighting and upload large photos.
• Find images that complement your description. This will help to illustrate the person’s character and provide reasons why donors should support your cause. For instance, since Rhett is a motivational speaker, the campaign creator added images of him at his speaking engagements.
• Post updates. During your campaign and even after, you can post updates on your progress. This best practice works especially well for health- and medical-related causes because donors will enjoy following your journey back to health.

3. Social sharing

What makes crowdfunding campaigns so successful is the social sharing element.

Think about it this way: if you create a crowdfunding page to fund your medical expenses and don’t share it, few people (other than your close family members and friends) would know about it.

By sharing your campaign online, you can reach a larger audience and have others share your cause with their networks. 

Social sharing example:

Now that you understand why social sharing is vital to your campaign, let’s look at how Rhett Laubach’s campaign shared their crowdfunding page.

Here is an example of how Rhett’s brother shared the campaign on Facebook:

This Facebook post is successful for many reasons:

• It was posted at an opportune time. This post was made on Rhett’s birthday, asking supporters to contribute as a present.
• The post links to the crowdfunding page. Interested donors can easily contribute or share the link with their peers.
• It uses a condensed version of the crowdfunding description. The post starts with information about why the campaign was started and how the funds will be used.

The post was so successful in eliciting support that 50 people shared this post, which means that even more supporters were inspired to donate to the cause.

Best practices for social sharing:

Social sharing is the focal point of any successful campaign. Without it, fewer people would know about your cause, which would make it difficult to reach your goal.

The trick is to post inspiring updates and tweets to encourage your followers to contribute.

Keep the following tips in mind when you share your crowdfunding page: 

• Post on multiple channels. Use the channels you’re active on so that you can reach the most people possible.
• Post frequently (but not too much). Post once a week and at opportune times (i.e. the day before the end of your campaign). That way, donors remember your cause.
• Link to your campaign. This may seem like common sense, but linking to your campaign will make it easier for donors to reach your fundraising page and contribute. Don’t forget this crucial step!

GoFundMe Medical Expenses Examples

Medical fundraising helped these people

Save Yoel and Yael

Zohar and Gabi were beyond excited to welcome their twins Yoel and Yael into the world. But about two and a half months after their birth, they discovered both of their children had a rare genetic disorder that causes brain degeneration.

Realizing they were in a fight against time, the couple searched for the best medical fundraising sites and found GoFundMe to help them pay for expensive gene replacement therapy. They raised over $251,000 in just two months.

Battle for Bryce Turner

When 15-year-old Bryce went to the doctor for a strange rash, he never imagined he would leave with a leukemia diagnosis. Because the leukemia was aggressive, doctors placed Bryce in the hospital for five months to undergo testing and treatment. His friends and family began using GoFundMe for medical expenses, raising over $50,000 in just 20 days to help cover the expensive medical costs. 

Every Picture Tells A Story: Artist Mark Melnick

As a professional artist and muralist, Mark had spent his entire life honing his craft. That came to a screeching halt when he suffered a stroke at the age of 60. Suddenly, he couldn’t paint and his monthly expenses ballooned overnight: He needed extensive therapy sessions, in-home care, and adjustments to his house to accommodate his new mobility restrictions. Mark’s community launched a GoFundMe that raised almost $19,000 in two months to help him recover.

Fundraising For Medical Treatment Messages

Following is a sample fundraising letter to be used for raising funds for medical expenses. You can use this appeal for direct or email requests, but also for any of the online fundraising sites.

Dear Friends,

We’re reaching out to let you know that we are kicking off a campaign to help Coach Amy and her family, and we need your help! You may have heard that Coach Amy’s youngest daughter, Clara, was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer last year. Three different specialists have recommended a new treatment that is now routine in France and Germany, but insurance will not pay.

They claim it is still too experimental. It will cost the family more than $50,000 to travel to Europe and pay the doctor bills at a private clinic. We all love Coach Amy because she has a fierce spirit and inspires so many children and others in our community to be their best. She often stays overtime at the basketball court to help a teammate, too, sacrificing precious time she could be spending with her own family.

The effects of this illness are devastating her family, however.  The prognosis, with the medicine, is a 55 percent survival rate, with a full recovery. The other options, which insurance will cover, include painful chemotherapy treatments. They only have a 25 percent survival rate and low chances for full remission. The family has appealed the insurance company, but with no luck.

The local bank has agreed to give them a high risk loan, for which they have to mortgage their home for a second time. The payments will be over $1,800 a month for 3 years, meaning that Amy or her husband will have to get a second job. We can’t cure Clara, but we can help ease the financial burden and resultant stress that the family is facing.

Our goal is to raise the entire $50,000 for them, to pay back the bank by the end of the year. You can help in the following ways: Give a gift today on our giving page [link here]. For a gift over $500, local restaurant Beechies will thank you with a free dinner for 4! Think about pledging a monthly gift toward the loan payments, which we hope to pay with donations as we raise the rest.

Help us fundraise with your own fundraiser! If you can’t afford to give yourself, please think about pledging to fundraise from your own friends and family on her behalf. If you can attract 10 donations of $25, it would have a great impact.

Help us collect donations for our silent auction, which will be held at the school in 2 months. We can use anything of value, though our theme is going to be basketball in honor of the Coach. If you have other ideas, we are happy to hear them as well.

Otherwise, please consider making as generous a gift as you can today, or pledging to do so in the coming months toward our $50,0000 fundraising goal.

Regards,

President Parent Association

P.S.: Please take a minute right now and make a donation. Coach Amy, who has given so much to us and our families over the years, truly needs our help!

Hospital Bill Fundraising Card

Crowdfunding is an easy and effective way to raise money to cover the cost of expensive medical treatments and unexpected health emergencies. Due to the current coronavirus crisis, it’s more important than ever to be able to generate revenue incredibly quickly.

Crowdfunding simply refers to reaching out to your network of supporters and asking for donations. The top crowdfunding platforms let you set up mobile-responsive online donation pages and collect donations from your friends, family members, and even strangers. All it takes is a few clicks (or taps) to donate. Supporters—whether they’re directly impacted or complete strangers—will feel compelled to give when it’s that convenient!

To start a campaign, you’ll need to select a crowdfunding software provider and then design your fundraising page (complete with pictures, a description, and a fundraising goal). Once your page is set up, you can share it with your network and start asking for donations to cover medical fees.

Here’s why crowdfunding is our #1 medical fundraising idea for coronavirus:

1. The campaigns can be managed from anywhere. In other words, if you’re busy focusing on your health or are potentially limited in terms of what activities you can do, online crowdfunding makes it easy to fundraise from the comfort of your own home or bed. With social distancing orders in effect all around the world, the ability to fundraise remotely during coronavirus is a crucial consideration.
2. With a crowdfunding campaign, you get the opportunity to truly tell your story. You can use images and video in addition to a compelling campaign description to explain your situation and what any donations would mean to your health and your treatments. Remember, the most successful campaigns evoke emotion and convey the urgent need for funding!

If you’re interested in starting a campaign, you can click here to sign up and launch your fundraiser in minutes.

Is it Hard to Raise Money For Medical Bills?

Often, the most effective method to raise funds quickly is to ask for help from the community. First, figure out a way to accept gifts, either at a bank, credit union, or a website like PayPal.

Then, spread the word about the person’s or family’s need. Start with their own networks of relatives, co-workers, neighbors, and other acquaintances. People are more likely to give if they have some form of relationship with the people in need.

You’ve probably heard or seen news reports, articles, or webpages that ask for donations to help pay a person’s medical bills or to help a family recover after a disaster. Likewise, write a letter or press release and ask local media if they will share it with their audiences.

If you use social media sites, ask your friends to support and then share your request for help with their own networks.

Perhaps you could organize a fundraiser or a collection drive for essential goods, like food, clothing, diapers and food for babies, etc.

You could also help them find local charities and agencies. In the U.S., dialing 211 will connect you to a free directory and referral service in most areas to find human/social service organizations near you, some of which may be able to provide temporary financial and other forms of assistance.

A community’s collective response can provide powerful and immediate support to people in need while they search for, apply, and wait for other benefits or forms of aid. These types of fundraisers usually happen without any kind of connection to a nonprofit or charity; thus, the gifts are not tax-deductible for the donors.

Why do People Need to Raise Money For Medical Treatment?

With rising medical inflation, treatment costs are soaring every day, making it impossible for the poor to get quality medical care. Many people struggle to gather funds to cover the full treatment cost, even with their health insurance policy. Thankfully, there are ways to raise money for medical expenses.

Whatever the medium you choose, remember to regularly update your donors and audience so that they know how their contribution has helped someone lead a better life or even saved them!

Which is The Best Way to Raise Money For Medical Expenses?

If you are looking to raise funds for medical expenses, you can try the following methods. 

Crowdfunding

Technology, kind hearts, and a sense of community have all come together to make crowdfunding the best way to raise money for medicalexpenses. The idea of crowdfunding is simple. Here, many people contribute a small amount to meet a specific goal.

If you wish to raise INR 5 lakhs for the cancer treatment of a child from an impoverished financial background, you start a campaign on a crowdfunding platform like Ketto and raise money to ensure that the kid lives the life they deserve.

A crowdfunding campaign involves identifying the goal amount you want to raise. Consider the hospital bills, surgery costs, medication, any livelihood lost, post-op treatments, and other related expenses before deciding the amount. Collect the verifiable documentation such as hospital bills to show that yours is a credible case. 

Next, write a story about the person/people you are raising the money for. Include pictures and make them as personalised as possible. Potential donors are more likely to help when they can put a face to the beneficiary’s name.

Seek the support of people you trust, and run your campaign! Share it as widely as possible; leverage social media, word-of-mouth, get influencers to talk about your campaign. 

Conduct an auction

Reach out to your network and request them to give valuables for an auction. It could be an expensive leather jacket, a vintage gramophone, Bollywood memorabilia, a voucher for a spa day, or even a piece of furniture. 

Once you have a list of items, host an online or offline auction. Invite as many people as possible from different backgrounds. Indeed, there will be someone interested in buying the items you are selling. Make sure you inform the bidders that the auction money is for a medical cause. This may result in more generous bids!

Second-hand books sale

Now is the time when all your bibliophile friends can help you, not just by imparting wisdom gathered from reading good literature, but also by parting with their books. Collect books from your network, and host a sale. 

List out all the book titles you have, authors, and genres. This will pique the interest of the buyers. Post the message on all relevant social media groups and forums and ask your friends and family to help you with the book donation drive and then run the sale. This way, you won’t feel burdened with responsibility, and together you make a difference while having fun. 

Teach a skill

Is your special biryani recipe to so tasty that all keep asking for it? Or are you good at stock markets and can easily give a crash course? Leverage your skills and take a paid class. Collaborate with relevant NGOs who can help you reach their networks and get you more participants. 

You can conduct webinars instead of hosting the workshops in a physical space. This will widen your reach as well. Don’t forget to mention why you are holding the workshop. Give the participants a chance to donate more than just the workshop fee.

Host a bake sale

The smell of freshly baked cookies works wonders in attracting people to the pop-up bakery. When people buy chocolate chip cookies for a good cause, they may not even have to feel guilty about all the extra calorie consumption.

You can take help from friends who are good at baking, marketing, and sales, and whip up batches of deliciously baked goodies. Promote the sale as a fundraiser for a good cause, and you may have a long line of well-wishers with a sweet tooth at your door.

How Can I Raise Money For Cancer Treatment?

With a crowdfunding campaign, you can create an online donation page, share it with friends and family, and ask for donations.

To begin, you would pick a platform and launch your campaign page. Your page will include: a compelling title, a realistic goal, a collection of images, and a short, detailed description explaining why you need donations.

We believe crowdfunding is the top fundraising idea for cancer research, treatment, and awareness because:

1. You can fundraise from anywhere with crowdfunding. If you need to run your own campaign but are busy focusing on your health and cancer treatment, you can manage a low-maintenance campaign. All you need is an internet connection and a computer.
2. With the right campaign and strategy, you can raise quite a bit of money in a short amount of time. Crowdfunding relies on momentum. As long as you build momentum and maintain it, your campaign will be in good shape.
3. Part of successful crowdfunding relies on having a compelling cause that people will be willing to donate to. When raising money for cancer treatment, research, and awareness, you have that compelling cause.

If this has convinced you to start up your own crowdfunding campaign, you can create a fundraising page in minutes and start raising money for cancer treatment, research, or awareness.

1. Find an advocate

Creating and managing a fundraiser takes time and energy. In fact, you will receive the most support by sharing your fundraiser frequently with your community. We know it can be a challenge to focus on other tasks while in treatment—so this is when a fundraising team comes into play. 

A trusted friend or family member can take point on managing your fundraiser and assembling a fundraising team that can help spread the word about your cause. To keep everyone organized, your crew of supporters can also help you create a fundraising plan. 

2. Be transparent about your financial needs

While some financial help for cancer patients comes from the government and organizations, it’s rarely enough to cover all expenses. It can be tough to ask for help, but listing all of your expenses will give your donors an understanding of your financial situation and why you’ve chosen your fundraising goal. Don’t forget to account for any out of pocket medical expenses when setting your fundraising goal.

3. Write a compelling fundraiser story

Your written fundraiser story is critical to fundraising success. It allows potential supporters to connect with you and get to know your history. People love it when you’re clear and honest, so try to answer these questions when crafting your story:

1. How will these funds help you? 
2. What treatments will you be going through? 
3. What are the expected costs of everything?

If you aren’t able to work on this yourself, a friend or family member may be able to help you put your thoughts into writing.

4. Let others know your needs

Asking for financial support isn’t always easy, but remember that your friends and family members want to help you during this time. One of the best, low-pressure ways to reach out to your network is through a fundraising letter. You can encourage people to visit your fundraiser by sharing a small portion of your story in your email, then telling them to “click my fundraiser link to read more and find out how to help.”  

Besides asking for financial support, consider asking your friends and family to help in other ways within your fundraiser description. For instance, someone may be able to help you run errands or drop off weekly meals. 

5. Post frequent updates

Sharing any news or progress on your fundraiser will keep supporters engaged and encourage continued support. Share the highs and lows of treatment or recovery in your fundraiser updates. Your supporters want to know what you’re going through, whether it’s good or challenging. If posting updates is too overwhelming during treatment, you can always ask a friend or family member to help you.

How to Save Money on Your Medical Bills

Americans pay more for medical care than almost any other industrialized nation — about $10,000 per capita, in fact.

When you finally take a deep breath and face those crazy-high bills, the bottom line can feel insurmountable. But luckily, we found some ways to help cut those high medical costs, even for care you’ve already received. You can pay less for the same treatment, from high-cost medical procedures like surgery to bills you already owe.

A little bit of time and effort might save you thousands of dollars and a negative mark on your credit score if you struggle to come up with five figure sums on the fly.

If you need help with medical bills and procedures, here are 10 ways to spend less on personal health care.

1. Negotiate Your Medical Bill

Even folks who negotiate in other scenarios might not know medical bills are one of the most negotiable debts you will ever owe.

If you’re facing a staggering, scary number, you probably don’t have to pay as much as they’re asking. You can negotiate the price of treatment with your both your provider and your insurance company, and you can approach the negotiation from a number of angles.

If you simply state the total is too high for you to afford, you might be able to score a discount if you can pay a large chunk — or all — of the bill up front or in cash. Don’t be afraid to make an aggressive offer — ask if the hospital will write off 70% of your bill if you hand them 30% right now.

Even if they say no, your lowball starting move primes the negotiation for a lower endpoint. And with the ridiculous premiums charged, 10-20% off the bill isn’t much to the provider, even if it’s a sizeable chunk of your lifetime savings.

If you don’t have a lump of cash to hand over in exchange for a deduction, you can probably get on a payment plan with the hospital. Although doing so may not lower your total significantly (or at all), you’ll avoid a negative factor on your credit report and have a concrete, manageable plan for getting rid of your debt.

You’ll have more luck if you start your negotiation first thing in the morning — and a few weeks after you first see the bill, according to Money Talks News’ interview with board-certified physician Steve Neilman.

But don’t wait too long — you don’t want it to go to collections!

2. Don’t Pay With Credit

I know it’s tempting when the bottom line is so high — but that’s exactly why you shouldn’t pay for medical (or these other) bills on credit.

You could end up paying hundreds of dollars on top of the bill in the amount of interest you’ll be charged. That total is big enough already, right?

You’re better off taking on an installment plan through the medical facility — which might not charge you any interest at all — than carrying a revolving debt that stands to make Visa a lot of money.

3. Make Sure You’re Using Your Insurance

You might also explore the possibility of putting the onus on the provider — that is, carefully examining your bill and the codes associated with each treatment to ensure they match the ones in your insurance plan.

It’s possible that an error — or an intentional case of upcoding — could cost you big time if the treatment is miscoded.

Your insurance company uses CPT codes to determine how much to reimburse the provider. Your plan will specify what procedures, under which codes, are included and at what cost. If your care is coded incorrectly, the procedure you see itemized for $842 might actually be $40 on your plan — or even free!

Also, don’t hesitate to file an appeal to your insurance company on denied claims. If you believe a service should be covered as per your plan, it’s worthwhile to reach out and ascertain what happened.

4. Make Sure You Actually Received the Services You Were Billed For

Request an itemized bill and review each line carefully. You might be surprised by what’s contributing to the summary total.

Ensure you were actually given the $25 aspirin you’re being charged for. Consumer reporter Caroline Mayer writes patients are sometimes charged for medication they brought themselves.

Duplicate items have also been known to appear on medical bills. (You probably didn’t have your gallbladder out twice.)

Were you charged as an inpatient or an outpatient? If you were only admitted for a few hours or a night, you might try to appeal your insurance company or the medical facility, as inpatient status is tied to significant increases in expense.

For this reason, it’s important to keep detailed records of your experiences with medical providers from the first moment you step into the lobby as well as records of all your interactions with the billing staff by telephone afterwards.

5. Get Help Negotiating Your Medical Bills

Backend errors like the ones I’ve listed above happen so frequently, in fact, that companies like Copatient — devoted to the singular task of helping you negotiate your medical bills — exist. What’s more, they find wiggle room in the bills they look at 80% of the time.

Copatient will pour over your documents to find loopholes and errors on the backend, and they charge only a small percentage of what they save you for their services. That’s right: If they don’t save you anything, you don’t spend a dime.

Patient advocates and attorneys can also help you figure out convoluted medical bills. But you’ll want to shop around carefully so you don’t funnel all the money you save directly back into paying for those services.

You might also consider sourcing funds to pay for existant bills from organizations like Modest Needs, which provide grants to self-sufficient individuals who can usually cover their expenses, or other charitable organizations that are sometimes available in-house at the hospital. If you have access to a strong network that would respond well to a crowdsourcing campaign, try GoFundMe or YouCaring.

But again, don’t wait too long — depending on whose help you seek, you may need to apply within a certain timeframe from the bill’s issuance to be eligible.

Fundraiser For Medical Expenses

Crowdfunding is an easy way to get support in raising the money by starting a campaign online from anywhere and sharing it through family and friends.

Fundraising ideas to cover medical expenses

Help out a family member or a friend

You can start a fundraiser to help a family member, friend or a colleague who is in need of funds for any medical treatment.

Fund your own treatment

You can start a fundraiser to support your own medical cost and independently take care of your medical treatment without debt

Combat an Emergency

From accidents to heart attacks, raise funds quickly for any medical emergency.

Fight Cancer

Raise money for chemotherapy, transplant and other treatments to battle cancer

Back a patient

As a doctor, you can help your patient gather the required funds for medical treatment by starting a fundraiser for him/her.

Raise funds for at-home care

If a patient or a senior citizen needs medical care at home, you can help them by raising money for day nurses and at-home doctor visits.

Get Money for Organ Transplant

You can fund organ transplant cost by raising money online to help save yourself or a loved one.

Daily Prescriptions and Care

For adults and senior citizens suffering from medical conditions that need daily medication or doctor visits, you can raise money for your day-to-day medical costs

Back an NGO

You can start a fundraiser to help an NGO that actively supports medical research, helps medical patients and provides free vaccinations or medications.

Best Fundraising Sites For Medical Expenses

Crowdfunding sites dedicated to medical fundraising  such as MedGift.Org are gaining traction. GoFundMe, a large crowdfunding site for any cause reports that a third of the campaigns launched on their platform are for medical expenses.

It’s easy to understand why, given that health policies can cost thousands of dollars per year, and have high deductibles. If someone falls ill and finds themselves needing costly care; turning to friends, family and kind strangers for help, crowdfunding is an increasingly popular and viable option.

Fund Raising Ideas to Cover Medical Expenses

Despite what many people think, there is no need to spend a lot of money to get a medical fundraiser off the ground. The following are some inexpensive and even free fundraising ideas to consider, when raising money for a friend’s medical expenses. 

One idea is to host a “Do Without” or “Healthy Eating Challenge.” This is how it works. Challenge the network or supporters and the local community, to give up a bad habit for as long as the medical fundraiser is active. 

For some people, this may mean not stopping at the bar after work, or not eating fast food for lunch. The money not spent on the unhealthy habit, is then donated to the fundraiser. The great thing about this fundraiser is that it can last for as long as the host, or beneficiary wants it to. This means that the potential will be there to raise a lot of money with this fundraiser. 

Online days of giving have been trending on social media for years. In fact, a quick search of #GivingTuesday, will reveal how many people give during this national day of donating and charitable giving. There is no reason why a day of giving could not also be established online, to encourage donors to give to the medical fundraiser. 

This type of fundraiser works well because it creates both a sense of community and urgency. The supporters of the medical fundraiser will work together, to raise as much money as they can within a 24-hour period. 

Game nights are a great way to get friends together to relax and have fun, while playing some of their favorite board games. These gatherings can also double as a way to raise money for medical expenses. 

Game nights can be held on a weekly or monthly basis, and selling refreshments will increase the amount of donations received. 

5 Effective Tips to Raise Money Online For Medical Bills

Although thousands of families across the United States have used fundraisers in the past to pay for their medical bills, not all medical fundraisers are successful in reaching their goal.

There are many elements and factors that make a successful fundraiser. The key is to be as involved and proactive as possible. Here are ten tips to building a successful campaign.

1. Have An Online Presence

You’ve probably heard of the growing trend of crowdfunding. This buzz word refers to the act of crowd sourcing funds from individuals for a goal, mission or cause has become widely popular in the United States. Medical crowdfunding is a segment of this growing trend, where families are using crowd sourcing platforms to raise funds for medical expenses.

Creating an online fundraiser through a crowdfunding website should be your first step. Keep in mind that most websites that offer this service charge a fee or percent off every donation that you receive.

One alternative to ensure that all funds you raise go to you is called PeoplePledge. PeoplePledge is a free medical crowdfunding website that allows families across the US to raise funds for medical expenses. This means you can create and run a fundraiser completely for free.

With millions of Americans using the internet on a daily basis, online fundraisers have been the proven method of sourcing donations from all over the world. Unlike other forms of fundraising, you have the ability to receive donations at any time of the day and night. No longer will you have to limit your fundraising efforts to one particular day event, which can often have time and locality constraints.

2. Ask For What You Need

There’s always a limit to how much you can fundraise. Supporters can often feel a sense of ‘donor fatigue’ if you are constantly fundraising and asking for money.

The best way to approach fundraising is to ask for what you really need. Honesty is the best policy when it comes to approaching family and friends for support. The more genuine you are with your fundraising approach, the more likely your family and friends will contribute.

Being humble about the situation can come along way in helping you reach your fundraising goals. That’s why when setting up a fundraiser, it’s always best to get the help of a lead fundraiser. This person is generally an individual who is not the beneficiary but is either a family member, work colleague or close friend.

Before setting up a fundraising page online, take the time to figure out the actually costs involved with treatment and any expenses that you will need to cover. Deduct this with any savings or money you have already set aside for these treatments. The difference between these should be the amount you aim to raise.

Make sure that you add a buffer to that amount in case there are unexpected costs ahead. Work out what you actually need and avoid setting a goal for a fundraiser that is not tangible to reach.

Breaking down the goals as well can also help you encourage supporters in smaller steps along the way. By breaking down the goals into smaller achievable goals, you may be able to quickly reach your overall goal a lot faster.

3. Double The Impact

Traditional forms of fundraising can still be effective when they are combined with online fundraising efforts. This helps you reach more potential donors and get twice the impact as you normally would otherwise.

Ideas such as auctions and community events are great ways to compliment what you are doing online. Offline fundraising events provide a way for families to give something in return of a donation. Hence, it can create incentives for supporters to want to donate even more.

Not only will you be able to get donations from attendees, you can also attract supporters to your online fundraiser. This can be easily done by providing the link to your online fundraiser as an alternative way to make a donation.

Some donors may find donating online more easy through a bank transfer or an online transfer. It can also mean for supporters who cannot attend an event or a fundraiser, the ability to still show their support online.

Offline fundraisers are also great to show your presence in the community and your social networks. It can create greater buzz and interest to your fundraiser, while also leaving a supporter feeling more connected to the cause.

4. Get Media Involved

Newspapers, radio stations, and other forms of media love to find out about a social cause like yours. This is particularly great when the topic such as health care is a debatable and newsworthy topic. Getting the media involved can help spread awareness about your fundraiser and lead to potential public donations and supporters.

Tapping into their a large viewership and readership can propel your fundraiser to the next level. This can often boost your fundraiser overnight.

Best practices are often when you setup a story in the first weeks of your fundraiser and ensure that they include a link to your fundraiser online. This will help draw new potential supporters from the community. You can also follow this up with a followup story once the fundraiser ends to show case the impact the donations have made thus far.

5. Share Your Story Effectively

When it comes to fundraising for medical expenses, it is important to remember that your story is your selling point and your product. Without it, supporters are less likely to feel connected or incline to help. Your story is your way of communicating to your supporters directly.

When writing your story one suggestion is to include how the funds will be used. This will help inform your supporters what you intend on using the funds for and what the purpose of the funds are. Being specific can be helpful such as to pay for a lifesaving treatment.

Creating a sense of urgency can also help supporters feel they need to act now before it’s too late. This can be done by setting a deadline to your fundraiser of when you actually need the funds to help pay for the treatment.

Including photos can also help share your story visually. This can also help break up your story to make the fundraising page more appealing.

How to Raise Money For Unexpected Medical Bills

The following tips will help you ensure that you have the best possible chances at success with your medical fundraising campaign.

How Can I Get Help With my Medical Bills?

For many patients, one of the scariest parts of the recovery process is learning how much you owe in medical bills. If you are without a nest egg, these bills can be both sudden and overwhelming. Thankfully, a few organizations specialize in helping people pay down costly medical debt.

Aunt Bertha

Aunt Bertha is a social care network and an online database that allows you to search for free or reduced-cost social/human services. These can include medical care, food, job training, and more.

Type in your zip code, and you will be presented with programs available in various categories. In one Austin zip code alone, there are 280 search results under the category “Help Pay for Health Care.”

The HealthWell Foundation

The HealthWell Foundation’s mission is “to reduce financial barriers to care for underinsured patients with chronic or life-altering diseases.” The foundation provides financial assistance to help with medical expenses like copays for prescription drugs, health insurance premiums, deductibles, and coinsurance, pediatric treatment costs, and travel costs. In 2019 alone, HealthWell awarded over $610 million in grants. 

To apply, visit the disease funds page to see if you are eligible based on your medical condition, or recommend a new disease fund. And if you are in a position to donate, be sure to check out the donation page. 100% of every dollar donated goes directly to patient grants and services. 

The PAN Foundation (Patient Access Network)

The PAN Foundation’s mission is to “help underinsured people with life-threatening, chronic and rare diseases get the medications and treatments they need by assisting with their out-of-pocket costs and advocating for improved access and affordability.” Find out if you’re eligible for financial assistance with the eligibility finder.

The National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics (NAFC)

The NAFC uses a volunteer/staff model to provide a wide variety of health and medical services to economically disadvantaged patients. These clinics and pharmacies restrict the ability for services to patients who are uninsured, underinsured, or have limited or no access to primary, specialty, or prescription health care. 

Search through as many as 1,400 Free and Charitable Clinics and Pharmacies on their Find a Clinic page. If you have money to give, the NAFC is in great need of providing support to the clinics in their network in their coronavirus response efforts.

NeedyMeds

NeedyMeds is a nonprofit organization that assists people who cannot afford prescription drugs and other medical costs. They are an information source, allowing you to find programs that may help. You can search for savings by drug name or diagnosis, find free or low-cost clinics, find resources for transportation support, view government healthcare programs, and more.

How Does Crowdfunding Help Raise Money For Medical Bills?

When people are faced with a sudden medical hardship, they’re often left wondering how to pay for expensive medical treatments and how to avoid medical bankruptcy.

Read Also: How Many Streams of Income Should You Have?

People use medical fundraising to raise money for a wide variety of medical-related expenses, from cancer and IVF treatments to surgery costs—and everything in between. Crowdfunding can ease financial stress and allow you to focus on healing. 

• Medical crowdfunding helps spread your story among your family, friends, their friends, and even strangers who want to support you during a difficult time.
• When you don’t know how to get financial help for out of pocket medical expenses, crowdfunding makes it simple. 
• Crowdfunding can get you the funds you need fast when you’re facing mounting medical bills. You can begin withdrawing funds as soon as you start receiving donations.
• Crowdfunding can help spread awareness about certain medical conditions and the healthcare system.

Free Money For Medical Bills

Most forms of assistance for housing, medical bills, or other personal expenses such as debt relief will come from charitable organizations or government assistance programs, rather than grants from foundations. Foundation grants are generally awarded to nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status. Those that give grants to individuals typically do so to help pay for education or to support artistic or research projects.

If you need funds urgently, more immediate resources for funding may be available in your area, including government agencies, local organizations, and gifts or loans from generous individuals. You might also contact your elected officials to ask about government-sponsored or other programs for which you may be eligible.

Advantages of Fundraising website

• Generates revenue in a very short time
• Most effective collection
• Clear advantages for donors
• Flexible reporting
• Get immediate receipt and acknowledgement of the transaction
• Easy to use, highly secure and convenient to the donors
• Fast access to the funds donated
• View donor contacts
• Overcoming agent cherry picking
• Accountability
• Direct impact of fundraising efforts
• Good relationship building is the foundation of this site

There are many fundraising websites available. How can you reach your goal with your fundraising website? Following steps may help you in getting beneficial ideas of building up fundraising website:

• Build a team before raising money for medical bills with the assistance of a few friends. As a team leader take care of coordinating efforts and let the team to spread the word to the world.
• Good start is the greatest thing to do to reach the goal. First you start with donating to show others how it is important. Do the larger amount donation so that followers may do the same.
• After your donation ask your family members or your friends to do net donation with larger amount so that you maintain the ball rolling with big donations. Most of the people check for average donation size once they visit the site and they do the similar amount of donation.
• Facebook is an amazing tool to reach the world quickly. It has a mass link chain of friends. Your word will easily reach to various groups of friends circle. So share your page on facebook and connect your fundraising website link to it. Update the health status, medical records constantly among the groups you have joined in facebook.
• Being persistent is the important key. Most of the people won’t donate when you ask for first time. Keep asking, sending requests through mails or facebook messages will keep your donor base engaged. Whenever you are asking for donations, update donors about the health and progress of patient.
• Offering with simple prizes or gifts to your donors who are donating larger amount will make them happy and feel better. Providing little extra incentive may increase your donation collection.
• Asking for certain amount on specific date is a good tactic to get the money since it creates extra sense of urgency.
• Another strategy of facebook awareness campaign is to ask people to share the status message for 24 hours rather than asking money. Everyone will be ready for doing this help for you.
• Before the last few days of ending fundraiser, intimate the last date to all friends’ circles through emails and facebook. So that little extra amount of donations before the buzzer. This mass email will make the most sense and this is the last thing you have to do.

Steps to pay Medical bills through Grant Money

1. If you know about the treatment ahead, find the low cost providing clinics before getting admitted. Get earlier appointment to receive better care.
2. After receiving care and before settling bills is the best time to talk to the hospital about reducing your bills. Many hospitals offer grants and financial assistance to insured or uninsured patients who are struggling with medical bills, so it is advisable to check for the options.
3. If you are able to get a grant, it can take months to acquire the funding. It may take a period of years for funding if bill amount is large. Get the status and updates regarding the grant periodically. Negotiate the payment plan with the fund provider. A low monthly payment may be helpful for you and avoid interest accrual on your bills.
4. If you are a member of a church, write a letter to approach the need since church use their collection funds or charity events for sick people for their treatment.
5. Contact organizations in your state and then go for national level for requesting aid. You can talk directly by giving your personal information. Many organizations give aid to people who are suffering from severe diseases like HIV including services such as rapid hiv test, cancer, heart diseases, diabetes, etc. Provide the copies of medical records if they are requested. There are many rules of requesting aid it provides.
6. Look for governmental assistance by filling online applications if you are qualified. Provide detailed information about you and illness with all available medical records and get contact name and number for further process. If possible produce a written statement to apply for governmental grants. There are many online sites are available which will provide you with a list of state and national agencies offering medical financial assistance.
7. Find your local health and Human services department if your income is low and facing medical problem. Check for state Medicaid agency for further support.

Benefits of governmental Grants Medical bills program

• It is not a kind of loan and hence pay back is not required
• Poor families are well benefitted
• Applying online is applicable
• There is no interest problems
• Secure and confirm payment is assured
• Applied for both insured and uninsured people

The art of communication is the key while asking for help. Follow the simple rules while raising money for medical bills:

1. Remain calm while calling for help. Yelling and screaming is not a good idea since it may create irritating feel to the opposite person. It may be you are communicating with wrong person. So make sure that where to ask, whom to ask and when to ask.
2. Knowing your facts is another important thing. While going for insurance policy you should know how it works, whether it is a part of deductible or co insurance.
3. Instead of forcing someone to answer all your questions, better get idea from others. Try to know when you can have direct meeting with manager to solve your doubts.
4. Being polite during complete process of claiming money will help you in smoother processing with less difficulty.
5. 86% of mills may contain lots of errors. While leaving hospital check it clearly and have perfect record with you for further claiming process. Be in touch with hospital until you receive claimed amount.

Dept Settlement Programs – It cuts the medical bills up to half. It is a legal process. Companies don’t provide enough information about these services. It’s your work to talk to your company regarding dept settlement programs they are offering. You can also search for reliable companies on internet. You will be getting actual information through online forums.

Internet will help you in finding legitimate companies available in your home town. You can also raise a question regarding services or complaints about any company on the internet. There are many people ready to answer and help you with their own experiences.

You can also personally have contact with those people for further clarifications about the company. Once you have hired a company then your job is almost over. It is a wise financial decision to go with dept settlement.

Factors affecting the maximum reimbursements in medical billing:

• Improper clinical documentation, insufficient records and billing errors can affect reimbursement process.
• Processing errors is the most important and difficult thing which can affect final payment since reimbursement process deals with data entry, coding, charge entry, patients details, etc. It is very efficient to track the errors throughout the process.
• Health care organizations are facing greatest challenges of implementations. They have to complete implementations on time to avoid penalty. Incentives will be provided if the implementations are done by following perfect schedule.
• There is a timely filling limit to follow while raising claims. If you fail to submit the form before the time limit then it will be critical for you to claim another form. So have all documents with you before you start claiming the medical bills.
• If your claims are genuine and you have failed to get approval or acceptance, you can appeal for reconsideration. So that this time you can get accepted and get better payment based on the appeal.
• After claiming the medical bills, you should periodically follow the status and updates of your reimbursement process.

Thus raising money is more challenging than it looks. Without these amazing Social Medias like twitter and facebook, it may become more difficult but don’t be afraid to ask for help when it is needed.

Related Post

Fundraising

How to Cut Down On Your Medical Costs

Make Money with Dental Hygiene Reviews

Common Unexpected Expenses That You Should Expect

5 Habits to Maintain a High Credit Score