Just started having my medical bills forwarded to me after ending up temporarily homeless at 19. Just logged in to my healthcare plan and… yeah it’s bad

Ok, so. I just had to move out of my home about 2 months ago due to a domestic violence situation and fearing for my own safety. I moved in to my friend’s apartment for a month, but they felt unsafe with me living in their home due to repeated incidents of human traffickers targeting me and threatening to find me.

I ended up homeless for a week (I work 2 jobs, it’s not like I’m lazy. All my money went into paying my friends for the month I stayed with them as well as costs to keep my vehicle insured and in decent condition.) I got extremely lucky recently and ended up meeting someone who decided to offer me an affordable living situation instead of just taking advantage of me.

I’ve started having my mail forwarded to me, so I’m starting to see some of my medical bills. The one I got in the mail wasn’t anything serious, but I got curious and signed into my insurance policy (it’s a united healthcare family plan that my mom has from her job as a teacher, but I’m a member on it).

Anyways. I just wanted to see what all I owe, and it’s really bad. Apparently I’ve been billed around $28k total this year and I owed the entire out-of-pocket maximum of $4250. This doesn’t seem like a lot in the grand scheme of things, but you have to understand I barely have the means to keep a roof over my head. By the end of every month, my bills take the entirety of both my paychecks.

This past year has been a medical disaster for me. I’ve been in and out of hospitals and emergency rooms from multiple violent sexual assaults and a baker-act (involuntary hold until I was cleared by a psych) after someone had given me a ridiculous amount of drugs so he could have his way which led to an overdose that put me in a coma for a few days. Everyone just seems to believe that it was a suicide attempt and completely my own doing, hence the baker act.

Anyway, the medical bills are fucking overwhelming and honestly I really just want to throw my phone across the room and pretend they don’t exist, but I don’t want to ruin my credit score. (I’ve been really diligent about keeping it around 650 and it’s steadily increasing).

Genuinely I don’t know what to do. If I can’t pay, Will my credit score take the hit since it’s billed under my membership ID? Or will it forward to the primary policy holder?

I’ve only received mail for a bill that was posted almost a year ago, which is only about 30 bucks because it was only a 30-minute check at an ER that was supposed to be in-network but I guess my insurance saw that they gave me an out of network provider without me knowing and they covered the ridiculous $900 physician service fee. This was sent through envision health, so I’m not sure what that means.

But I’m my EOB it says it was identified as a federal surprise bill, so I’m wondering if I can just let that work itself out.

But I’m also seeing a lot of the bills (primary care, bloodwork, smaller items) appear that I owe money, but the EOB says my HRA is covering it so I should wait to be billed by the provider directly.

I’m wondering if that envision bill is an example of a bill sent by a provider that I HAVE to pay? Or is there a way to dispute those?

I really just have a lot on my plate right now, and when my main focus has been trying to keep myself clean, fed, and safe, all of this just seems so overwhelming and impossible to deal with.

I don’t know what my options are. Who do I call? The providers? My insurance? Someone else? The fuckin ghostbusters?

I really just don’t know where to start with all this. I was never taught these things and Im barely staying alive as it is. I seriously just don’t have the money to pay these.

The one that I’m most worried about is the $1500 bill I received from the hospital following the OD/assault. It’s listed as emergency service but the coinsurance cost is the majority of that. The hospital is giving me two more weeks to make a payment. Would it be possible to avoid this?

How should I do it? Calling providers directly to try to dispute or have the bill passed to a different payer (I remember one of the nurses recommended this), or should I appeal with my insurance to try to get more covered?

I’m sorry I really honestly just don’t know what to do. Any help is greatly appreciated