As Melodee Jones, 31, has experienced, autoimmune diseases are often tough to diagnose. Despite struggling with inflammation and hives for the past year, she’s still unsure of the root cause. “You just treat your symptoms and hope that a lightbulb goes off and someone tells you what it could be,” she said, adding that she has been diagnosed with edema.
Because it’s hard to arrive at an autoimmune disease diagnosis, the Autoimmune Association has developed eight tips to help get one. These include knowing one’s family medical history, thorough examinations and coming up with a plan to manage long-term effects.
Melodee recalls the first time she sought treatment for her symptoms, in June 2023, she was given a swab to check for strep throat, a steroid shot and a shot of Benadryl or penicillin — “one of the two.” For seven hours, she remained at Christian Hospital Northeast-Northwest in Missouri, where she’s still treated to date.
“I just remember the bill literally was those three items…And the amount they billed to my insurance was like four grand,” Melodee said of her first bill. “The breakdown of so many simple procedures just didn’t seem fair at all.”
As her symptoms persisted, it became routine for Melodee to visit the hospital, where she’s often been given IV fluids and gotten “every blood test you can think of,” as well as specialized panel tests to check for different autoimmune diseases, including lupus.
She managed to pay off $1,171 in medical expenses, noting: “I remember because that’s probably the largest transaction I’ve had on my [credit] card,” but had a large lump sum of $3,227.
Melodee works as a healthcare advisor with United Healthcare and pointed to the irony of advising others on related issues, yet struggling with her own. No one at the hospital mentioned charity care. But through her work, she came across Dollar For and decided to reach out to ask about assistance.
“Just being through what I’ve been through, it was like, okay, this can’t be real…But I literally was desperate for help…So I went ahead and filled out the fields online and [Dollar For] responded right away,” she said.
Along with the speedy response, Melodee emphasized she appreciated Dollar For’s reminders to call the hospital and help with what information to get.
The outcome took Melodee by surprise: “I spoke with the same billing lady [as usual], and she said, ‘Yeah, we have your application and you were approved for assistance.’ She just said it so quickly, I was like, ‘Hold on. Wait.’”
Her debt balance dropped from thousands of dollars to $56 and she was approved for financial assistance with 80% of treatment costs through 2024. Before Dollar For, Melodee said she had no idea how to seek medical debt forgiveness, and instead hoped to set up a payment plan for ongoing care.
“Before the year with my health concerns, I had worked maybe three years to build my credit, so it was very disappointing to acquire debt. Just with the little bit [Dollar For] has helped, it definitely has taken away a large weight off my shoulders and a financial burden,” Melodee said.