Persevere in be paying

Getting health-care claims paid can be an arduous process, made worse by the penny-pinching of insurers, the complexity of policies, and inefficiencies in the health-care system, says Joseph Ditré. His advice: "Don't give up. And get help." 


Ditré's nonprofit Consumers for Affordable Healthcare, in Augusta, Me., is one of the organizations funded as "consumer assistance programs" by the 2010 federal health-care reform.

 Although not available in the 17 states that didn't apply for funding, the programs work with consumers one on one, helping them resolve difficult health-care claims.