Managing Medical Bills: Strategies for Navigating the Health Care System

In August 2006, the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE, www.nefe.org) and Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute (hpi.georgetown.edu & healthinsuranceinfo.net) collaborated on three guides to assist consumers in finding and keeping health insurance coverage. These three guides are now available here for free (please see our copyright notice for information on reprinting the guides).

These guides are in PDF format. You will need the latest version of the free PDF software to read and print these documents; you can download it here.

Book One, Understanding Private Health Insurance. Topics include:

What is Good Health Insurance? What to Look for and What to Avoid
Special Worksheet to Help You Evaluate Your Health Insurance Choices
Insurance Transitions — What They Are and How to Navigate Them

( PDF format, 39 pages, 1 MB)

NEW! Our revised list of State High Risk Pools and their contact information, as of July 2007.

Book Two, Medicare and Medicaid: A Health Care Safety Net for People with Serious Disabilities and Chronic Conditions. Topics include:

When, Where and How to Apply for Social Security Disability Determination
An Overview of Medicare Parts A, B, C and D
Other Places for People with Disabilities and Their Families to Seek Medical Coverage
Directory of Medicaid Offices for Every State and Territory

( PDF format, 40 pages, 948 KB)

Book Three, Options for Avoiding and Managing Medical Debt. Topics include:

Places to Go for Free Health Care
You Can Negotiate with Your Doctor for a Discount on Medical Care
Answering Questions about Bankruptcy
What You Need to Know about Credit Reports and Credit Scores

( PDF format, 33 pages, 616 KB)

Also available free of charge! Evaluating Health Insurance Choices Worksheet – a two-page worksheet to help you compare private health insurance costs and coverage ( PDF format, two pages, 135 KB).

Please let us know what you think! Send email to feedback@healthinsurancinfo.net.