Key takeaways:
When Elaine Bryant’s youngest son was diagnosed with epilepsy, medical bills started piling up.
Even with good insurance, it felt like they were drowning in hospital bills.
But when Elaine applied for medical relief through Dollar For, the organization helped wipe away thousands of dollars of debt.
Elaine Bryant, a North Carolina mother of three, started noticing odd symptoms in her youngest son when he was almost 9.
Jack would be talking normally, when his head would turn suddenly to the side — a quick movement that he didn’t seem to notice doing. Then he started “spacing out” during normal activities — brief moments when he didn’t seem aware of what was going on around him.
“At this point, I was like, ‘OK, that’s unusual,’” Elaine recalls.
Elaine and her husband took Jack to doctors and specialists. He underwent numerous tests.
Meanwhile, his symptoms continued to get more severe and alarming. It became especially clear something was wrong, because his development and behavior were noticeably different from his twin sister.
Finally, he was diagnosed with epilepsy, a brain disorder that causes seizures.
Jack has several different types of seizures. He meets regularly with a pediatric epileptologist at Duke Health near their home in North Carolina. Doctors have tried different medications at different doses. They continue to give him different scans and tests.
But 5 years later, his seizures are still not controlled.
Medical bills add up
While the family was looking for answers, their medical bills were piling up.
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Because Jack’s epileptologist was based at a hospital, they were charged a hospital fee for every visit — which was much higher than a regular doctor’s copay. “At one point he was going every month or every 3 months,” Elaine says.
Then, there were the routine brain scans Jack was getting every 3 months. Sometimes, he had to stay overnight or for a weekend in the hospital for longer tests. At one point, he was coming in for regular steroid infusions. And of course, there were the medications.
Even with a good insurance plan, the family couldn’t keep up. They were accumulating medical debt at Duke. They made payments when they could, but costs kept coming in. The amount they owed hovered around $6,000.
Elaine considered looking for a specialist at a less expensive facility.
“But we like this guy. He’s really engaged, he loves Jack, and he’s the kind of doctor that will sit down and really listen,” she says. “So I said, ‘We’re not switching again. We’ll get on a payment plan.’”
Paying off debt — while it continues to rise
Elaine called the hospital and negotiated a payment plan with the finance department. The family would pay $207 per month toward their medical debt. They were able to keep up with payments, but each new test or visit added to the bill. The total amount they owed never really went down.
Elaine wondered if there were programs that could help. She started researching options. Then she heard a National Public Radio podcast about an organization that helps people with medical debt.
“I thought, ‘Let me look into this,’” she says.
She emailed the nonprofit, Dollar For, which helps people apply for charity care. They replied right away and offered to start the process of getting her debt lowered. Elaine took some time to get her family’s tax documents ready (the family had deferred their taxes, in part because of their medical costs).
Then in October 2022, she completed Dollar For’s financial assistance application.
Applying for help
The questionnaire asked for basic information and documents like pay stubs, bank statements, and tax returns. Two weeks later, Dollar For informed her that her application had been submitted to Duke.
“It was a very easy process,” she says
Then, in November 2022, she was notified that her hospital debt had been lowered by 60%. She quickly logged into her account at the hospital and saw that Jack’s balance had dropped from $6,827 to $2,042.
They’ve been making monthly payments to pay off the rest. In addition, the family’s hospital medical bills will be reduced by 60% for 2023.
Financial relief and a sense of accomplishment
Elaine says having her family’s medical debt reduced was a big relief. Between worrying about Jack’s condition, caring for their other two children, and coping with other day-to-day issues, Bryant and her husband were under a lot of stress. Now, medical debt is one less worry.
Just as important, she says working with Dollar For gave her a sense of accomplishment. That meant a lot when there’s so much about her son’s condition that she can’t control.
“It felt like a mini win,” Elaine says. “Like, I did this for our family. It makes me feel like I’m helping in some way.”
Looking to the future
Elaine offers support for other families coping with a child’s chronic illness and medical costs. She says it’s easy to get overwhelmed. But by taking the time to learn and research options, it’s possible to find solutions.
“It’s just about not giving up,” she says. “If you just hone in and tackle one thing and work on it a little bit at a time, it adds up.”
Today, even though Jack’s seizures still aren’t under control, Elaine says things are improving. An experimental drug he started in a clinical trial seems to help. And she’s working with his doctors to get him off some of the drugs that aren’t helping. She hopes that will lessen some side effects and help him feel like himself again.
Jack recently started riding horses through an equine therapy program.
“He was resistant at first, but I was like, ‘Just try it,’” Elaine says. “And he loved it.”
When they’re not juggling school and activities, the family, which also includes an older son, enjoys sharing movies and fondue nights.
“I feel hopeful,” Elaine says. “It’s a matter of not just looking at today, but also looking at tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, and working toward that. That’s what makes me feel like I’m helping our family.”
Elaine Bryant told GoodRx her story as part of a partnership with Dollar For, a nonprofit that helps people reduce their medical debt.
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