In the past three months we have spent over $700 extra for doctor visits and prescription copays for a bout with pneumonia; that's with health insurance. And, it will be more once i get the bill for the ER visit. It's extra money we don't really have. It might not have cost so much if the nurse practitioner who first saw me had diagnosed correctly and treated me aggressively. My doctor agrees with me on that. We went through a comedy of errors with the front office people, etc., and that is not the first time that has happened. I would be very wary, any more, of going to a less-than-a-doctor for any seemingly acute problems.

Whatever they do, it needs to be as simple and worry-free as possible for everyone and they need to do it NOW! My daughter works for a hospital collection agency - first collector, so there's no pressure, just get payments lined up. She knows people who have put their homes in trust to be sure that they don't possibly lose them if the medial bills get to be too much; she has even recommended it to some of her clients to help them out. That's just plain wrong to have such stress.