Medical bills can be a real financial killer. Anybody who has ever experienced a surprise injury or had to face a big dental bill knows that you can be riding high one minute and feel like you’ve got nothing left in the bank the next.

The fact is that many emergency medical bills can drain your bank account. Sometimes you don’t have a choice but to pay them though if you’re dealing with a lot of pain or you have a procedure you simply can’t ignore. If you have kids, you can’t put their well-being at risk either.

That’s how many people end up in debt and don’t know how they’re going to get out. While your medical bills can seem like a killer, there are some things you can do to make life a bit easier on yourself.

Use this guide to try and catch some break when it comes to emergency medical bills. After all, you’ve already had enough bad luck and hardship.

Contact Your Insurance Provider

If you don’t have medical insurance at all, this is a step that you can probably skip. However, if you have medical insurance and you just don’t think you’re covered, you do need to talk with your provider.

The fact is that sometimes insurance companies make mistakes when it comes to billing. They might have charged you for something that should have been covered. They could have gotten the amounts wrong as well when it comes to how much you owe versus how much they should have paid for you.

Talk with your insurance provider and let them know about bills that are giving you trouble. There may not be anything they can do, but it really can’t hurt to ask. You don’t want to pay for their mistakes either.

Ask for Discounts

Almost any hospital and free standing ER Houston residents use knows that emergency care can’t be avoided. They also know that patients have trouble paying bills.

If you agree to pay though, you should consider asking for some sort of discount right off the top. They just might work with you to avoid not getting paid at all. Believe it or not, hospitals often don’t get the money owed to them – even partial payments.

Talk about discounts and then discuss paying for care received over a year instead of up front.