I am a 34-year-old woman who after many years of fighting with the hospital finally cleared my medical debt. My story began when I was in high school. I was 15 years old when I was diagnosed with ovarian cysts and fibroids in my uterus. Due to the number of fibroids and the recurring cysts I had to constantly be medically supervised. It wasn’t a financial issue until I became over age and my father’s insurance did not cover me. My visits to the GYN became more frequent the older I became and I did not have medical insurance. The medical bills started coming in faster than I could pay them and the appointments didn’t stop. I went to a “public” Hospital because they were the only ones that would give me treatment with no insurance, or so I thought. At 23 years old and in medical debt, I had to drop out of college to work in order to pay the medical bills, and even with all that sacrifice my head was still not above water. No one ever informed me that hospitals offer low-cost to no cost payment plans for low-income people, and that they can adjust your outstanding debt according to your income. I became aware of these programs after I started to work for a medical billing company. I requested itemized bills and I disputed many of the overcharges that I found. I also called, faxed and visited the billing offices of the hospital in person to dispute and adjust the bills. After many years of fighting with the hospital I managed to lower the bills to a payable amount which I broke into a low amount payment plan according to my income.  Three years later I cleared my medical debt, but my trust in the medical field was hindered. Now I try my best to inform all the patients I come across that they have options, and I make sure that they know they don’t have to live with medical debt.