Medical Bills and Your Structured Settlement

Pay Off Medical Bills with Structured Settlement

If you’re receiving payments from a structured settlement with an insurance company, you are probably injured. If you are injured, you probably have very big medical bills from having your injuries treated. While the structured settlement or annuity you have received gives you money over the course of several years, it can be stressful to have the bills hanging over you every month. There are two things to consider if you want to get rid of your medical bills as quickly as possible: first, you can usually negotiate the total on your bills to get the dollar amount to a more manageable number. Second, you can cash in some or all of your future structured settlement payments in order to take care of your bills all at once.

If you were treated at a hospital, or one of many different doctors’ offices, the price that you are being charged for the services you received may have nothing at all to do with the price of the actual service. Doctor’s offices and hospitals may charge upwards of $10 or $15 per pill for Tylenol—a medicine that you can buy whole jars of for less at the grocery store. Hospitals are especially guilty of this, because they are aiming their billing at insurance companies—who have much deeper pockets—and because so many people who go to the hospital for emergency care end up never paying. So they send inflated bills hoping to get at least part of their money from anyone who comes in.

The flip side of this, however, is that they are generally willing to negotiate a lower price tag for you, provided you’re willing to pay. The secret to negotiating a lower hospital or medical bill is to look over your bills, or have someone who knows how to read the sometimes complicated bills, and make sure you know everything they are billing you for. If there are things on your bill that you didn’t receive, or things you think are hugely overpriced (such as $10 Tylenol), contact the doctor or hospital and explain that you want to pay a fair bill, but you think the charges are unreasonable. Usually, they will be able to negotiate by removing some items—especially if you didn’t receive them. This can bring down your total bill hugely.

Another option is to cash in some of your future structured settlement or sell annuity payments in order to pay your bill all at once. DRB Capital can help you receive a lump sum of cash for your structured settlement so that you can take care of your bills all at once, instead of a little at a time. If you or your independent advisor have any questions about how you can get cash for your structured settlement, please call us at 877-894-4541.