"The Good Doctor...."

Well, well, well.... I had a letter in the mail from yesterday that I had been avoiding.. It was from the local hospital. I have been getting them for several months ever since the "Little Black Man versus the Stones" incident where I had kidney stones on an early Sunday morning... That little trip cost me almost $4000, of which I have paid the $50 they asked for at the emergency room that day...

I filled out some papers when I received the first bill. There was a notice that if you did not have health insurance or were not able to afford the bill to call the number and talk with them. So I called and they mailed me the aforementioned papers to provide them details about my financial status. They required proof of income for the year to date, bank statements, and income tax forms from 2007, all of which I happened to have, so I gladly copied them and sent them in.

I thought they had gotten lost or something, because I had still been receiving these bills for the past two months..
I just ignored the letter yesterday, because I didn't want to get depressed looking at that bill.. Plus I was thinking, I haven't paid them anything since June, this is probably a threatening letter where they offer to put the kidney stones back in if I don't pay up..

Not sure why I decided to grab it this morning, but I was pleasantly surprised when I opened it, versus just throwing it away like I usually do :) .

The letter said "We have received your paperwork for the indigent care program. We have reviewed your paperwork, and the application has been approved. We have forgiven the balance, and you are no longer responsible for paying any amount on this account. Thank you for your cooperation."

Is that awesome or what? God is definitely good. You know, its good that this headache has been removed, but I'm not sure I like the word "indigent." I had to look it up. because I really wasn't sure what it meant... I mean, I had an idea, but I didn't think it was such a derogatory word.
dictionary.com shows the word to mean:

in·di·gent /ˈɪndɪdʒənt/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[in-di-juhnt] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation –adjective

1.	lacking food, clothing, and other necessities of life because of poverty; needy; poor; impoverished.

I'm so glad that God says otherwise.... We're not poor by any stretch of the imagination, I just don't have a spare $4000 right now! But, thank God that I no longer need a spare $4000.

Later,
and God bless,
-myk