You go to the doctor because you want to be healthier and feel better, right? But for millions of people in this country, there is a really bad side effect. And we're not talking like the list of side effects you hear on those pharmaceutical commercials may result in massive bleeding, winding headaches, excessive dry mouth, night sweats, restless Lake syndrome, warts. This side effect arrives in your mailbox, and it can be just as painful.

For two years, I would wake up in the middle of the night thinking, oh my God, I'm going to have

to pay $64,000. I'm, you know, I'm screwed. Medical bills can be outrageously high. And when

those bills turn into debts that you can't afford to pay

back, talk about headaches. If you don't pay this, we're going to come after you. They just

kept coming in and another said, 200. They said they were going to take me to court. I started using

credit cards to pay for prescriptions, physical therapy. And then another was like 900. And I was like,

why, what, what did this come from?

I was absolutely terrified. Most of my cards are now almost maxed out. This is a huge problem. One in five working Americans who have insurance still say that they have trouble paying their medical bills. But the good news is, if you're struggling with medical debt or helping a parents or a family member, there are things that you can do, like negotiating the debt down by a lot to something

that you can afford.

You know, sometimes negotiating medical debt issues, it's not something you need a law degree for. You just

have to kind of be a pest. This is your NPR Life Kit for Getting Out of Debt. This episode,

Medical Debt. I'm Chris Arnold. I cover personal finance and consumer protection. And we're going to

give you seven important things you need to know to help you deal with

medical bills. So you'll know who to call, what to say, and how being a pest in the right way

might save you thousands of dollars. We're going to learn how right after this.

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So my daughter's in high school and she'll do this thing where she'll say, dad, I'm going to fail physics.

I totally don't understand this. And she gets like all A's and B's and she's just totally not going to fail physics. But I say, look, why don't you just talk to the teacher and ask for help?

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