Without having to worry about affording his medical bills, Steve was able to focus on getting healthy and back to his painting business.

A self-employed business owner, Steve has run a successful painting company for 18 years. With the painting business slower in winter months, he and his wife were unable to afford their own insurance plan and decided to hold off until the spring when they would be more financially stable.  Steve and his wife hoped their health would hold up until then. 

Last January, Steve was loading his fireplace when he began to feel dizzy and overheated and thought he was going to faint. He stepped outside for some fresh air but the symptoms persisted.  Alarmed, his wife asked him to lie down while she called an ambulance. Steve protested, knowing the bill for an ambulance ride from Elizabeth to Parker would be more than they could afford, especially without any health insurance. When his symptoms still would not subside, Steve’s wife called 911.  Paramedics took Steve to Parker Adventist Hospital and after a series of tests that were inconclusive, doctors urged him to see a specialist.  Steve was unsure how he could see a specialist without any insurance, especially once the bills from his ER visit began piling up.

Steve decided to try and negotiate some of the bills, and was able to work out payment plans for some of the smaller bills.  When Steve went to the fire department to pay one of his bills they told him about Doctors Care.  Steve called and was able to come in for a group information session where he learned the full scope of what Doctors Care could offer. Doctors Care was able to back date his previous hospital bill, leaving Steve only responsible for 10 percent.  Steve was also assigned a primary care physician who was able to refer him to a neurologist for his recurring symptoms.  “I could not wait to call my wife and tell her the news after I left that meeting.  I was shocked at what this organization would do for me and my family,” said Steve. “It feels like there is whole network of people behind me to support me through this process and see me healthy.”