The Vicious Cycle of Financial Stress

We will be continuing our series on the effects of financial stress and why you should take care of it as soon as possible. If you missed the first part in our series, “Why You Should Deal With Your Financial Stress Now, then please read it before continuing!

https://moneytoolsforlife.wordpress.com/2016/04/07/why-you-should-deal-with-your-financial-stress-now/

Alright, you know you’re stressed and you’ve read our article on how to deal with that stress, but how can we manage the cycle that comes from financial stress?

What’s the cycle of financial stress? The cycle begins with financial stress, then it turns into medical issues that can come from stress (like risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, and headaches), which then leads you to go visit a doctor creating medical bills and increasing your stress from your financial burdens.  It’s a never ending cycle of being stressed, getting sick, and creating more stress that needs to stop.

But, there are ways to cut down on expensive medical bills so they don’t add to your financial stress!

Dealing With Your Medical Bills:

• Know the costs, there could be errors– 80% of medical bills contain errors. It is very possible you could be getting charged for services you never received
• Negotiate-sounds crazy, but it’s possible. Insurance companies have a lot of influence over medical providers so negotiate, what’s the harm in trying?
• Ask for a helping hand-hospitals do have assistance programs if you find you may need some help paying your bills without going to collections
• Set up a payment plan-it gives you a sense of being in control and lets the providers know you are taking responsibility of your bills

Just because your bill is high does not mean there aren’t other measures to relieve the extra stress caused from them.