If you’ve been suffering from an illness for some time or found yourself in an accident that left you with life-changing injuries, you’ll know the toll it can take. Not only on your body physically but on your mental health, well-being and finances.
It’s a hard position to be in when you need medical care but know that the repercussions will be significant medical debt as a result. How do you cope with this debt while also giving yourself a chance at recovery?
Medical debt impacts many aspects of life
When you need medical care, the bills can add up quickly. If you require surgery or an extended stay in the hospital, you can expect these bills to be tens of thousands of dollars. Money that most of us simply don’t have.
The stress of these bills can have a further impact on your health. Stress can cause high blood pressure and have a significant impact on your mental health. Couple this with being unable to get out of the house and work, or simply enjoy life as you used to and people can find themselves struggling with anxiety and depression.
A result of the above stresses can be people not taking care of themselves as well as they should and as they’ve been directed to by medical professionals. This, in turn, can prolong the expected recovery period. The consequence of this may mean more time out of work and more medical debt leaving the cycle to continue.
Making tough financial decisions to tackle your medical debt can be an incredibly hard step to take. It can, however, provide you with an opportunity to take back control and give yourself breathing space to recover.
