This post has been shared by the AdvoConnection Blog. It was written with a patient-client audience in mind, but might be useful to you, too.
It is provided so you can find it in a search here at myAPHA.org, but you’ll need to link to the original post to read it in its entirety. Find the link to that post at the end of the excerpt.
How Much Does It Cost to Hire an Independent Advocate?
Did someone say HIRE? Yes – hire. Independent health or patient advocates provide services you’ll usually pay for from your pocket, not covered by insurance. You might ask – Hey! Why aren’t they covered by insurance – or free? We’ve discussed that previously, explaining that you WANT to pay for the service yourself, or at least let someone who has your best interests at heart be the payer. A loved one, or an employer – they do have your best interests at heart. An insurer or a hospital does not. That includes patient advocates who work for insurers or hospitals. OK – how much DOES it cost to hire a health or patient advocate? Aha – that might be a surprise. Hiring an independent, private advocate often costs far less than you think. So let’s analyze what comprises the cost so you can judge for yourself: The cost will depend on a number of factors, including the services you need, how long it will take (days? weeks? months?), the background and experience of your advocate, and geography (you’ll pay more in a large city than you will in rural or middle-America.) What is your quality of life worth to you? What is life itself worth to you? (You can’t take it with you, as they say.) And further…. what about the alternative? What happens if you don’t hire the help you need? Will you survive? And – how much of your hard-earned savings will it cost you? So what does that mean in terms of dollars? Is there an hourly rate? Well – yes – and no. Yes, most advocates keep an hourly rate in their heads, but even that can vary. An hour’s worth of sitting in your living room discussing your medical situation or helping you draw up your advance directives is not the same value as an hour’s worth of driving to your house, is not the same as an hour’s worth of sitting by your hospital bedside while you sleep, is not the same as an hour’s worth of negotiating with the doctor’s billing department, is not the same as an hour’s worth of researching the deep web for clinical trials… You get the picture. Further – what does an hourly rate mean to you anyway? You have no idea what one advocate can accomplish in one hour, so just knowing that number, as an isolated…
