Receiving bills for medical services is new to me.  Paying a co-pay for checkups or a prescription was the norm.  I have learned first hand the health care industry is EXTREMELY screwed up. I have received bills for the facility, surgeons, medication, MRI, ultrasound, genetic testing, radiologist and the list goes on and on. I am not complaining.  I am still here.  Thankful to have insurance.  But that is EXTREMELY screwed up, too.  But that is another story.


When I was a teen, I would help my grandmother with her mail.  I would sit on the floor by her feet, open the envelopes, read the letter and she would instruct me what to do with it. Sometimes it went in the garbage pile.  If it was a bill, she would tell me how much to write the check for and then she would sign it. 


Once I opened a bill from Mobile Infirmary Hospital.  It read: Balance Due $600.00.  I told my Grandmother and she instructed me to write them a check for $5.00.  I said, “Grandma, they said you have to pay $600.00.”  With a very calm voice she said, “I don’t have $600.00, so I will give them what I can, $5.00.”  Back then, that made absolutely no sense to me.  How could my Grandmother be so calm and at peace with this payment? All I could think about is she would be paying on this bill FOREVER!


When I received what I considered an outrageous bill from the hospital for my surgery,    I called the financial office and confirmed that the bill was accurate.  “Does this include the insurance?”  I asked. The representative said, “Yes. Would you like to setup a payment plan?  If so, how much can you pay monthly?”  With a very calm voice, I said, “$5.00.” LOL


The days of $5.00 payments were over.   However,  the representative was cool with $50.00 and so was I.  I now understand how my Grandmother could be so calm and peaceful with her decision to pay a small portion of her debt. She surely knew what I know now.


Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7


Who knows?  I too may be paying on this bill FOREVER.  More important, I am not stressed about it.  I have peace and I got $5.00.  


Love ya’ll,