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What paid advocates, appeal services and lawyers do, what they cost, and what to ask first.
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- Read: Legal aid and when to hire a lawyer 5 minute read. Free legal aid helps some people with health coverage, Medicaid and medical debt. A lawyer matters most for a hearing, a lawsuit against a plan, or a debt lawsuit. Here is how to find one and what to ask.
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In brief
- Legal aid offices give free legal help to people who qualify, often by income. Some states list one for health coverage or public benefits problems.
- A lawyer matters most at a Medicaid fair hearing, before a lawsuit against an employer plan, or if a collector sues you. The plan document may set a deadline to sue that starts before your appeals end.
- Ask who does the work, what it costs, what the deadlines are and what a realistic result looks like. A lawyer cannot promise an outcome.
- This site gives information, not legal advice.
More guides, tools and letters
More guides, tools, letters 8
Guides
- Legal aid and when to hire a lawyer
Free legal aid helps some people with health coverage, Medicaid and medical debt. A lawyer matters most for a hearing, a lawsuit against a plan, or a debt lawsuit. Here is how to find one and what to ask.
- Paying for an advocate or an artificial intelligence appeal service: what to ask
Paid advocates, artificial intelligence appeal services and lawyers do different jobs. Check free options first, then ask who does the work, what they need, how they use your data and how they measure results.
Programs and services
- Program or service
Cancer Legal Resource Center and Cancer Justice helpline
A legal helpline and resource library for people with cancer, run by the Disability Rights Legal Center. Covers legal questions about insurance, work and money. Whether staff can take your case is not stated.
From Disability Rights Legal Center
- Program or service
Claimable
A paid service that builds an appeal for specific denied medicines and mails and faxes it for you. It lists about 85 medicines and does not cover other kinds of denial. Price is shown after you start.
From Claimable, Inc.
- Program or service
Counterforce Health
A free artificial intelligence (AI) appeal letter generator for individuals, plus a large blog of drug, insurer and state guides. The tool sits behind an intake form and an email account.
From Counterforce Health, Inc.
- Program or service
Legal Services Corporation: find free legal aid
A search page that finds a civil legal aid organization near you. These organizations serve low-income people; the page does not say whether a local program takes health insurance cases.
From Legal Services Corporation
- Program or service
Sheer Health
A paid membership service that connects to your insurance account, watches claims and, on paid tiers, handles denials and appeals for you, including calls to insurers. It does not teach you to appeal yourself.
From Sheer Health, Inc.
- Program or service
Triage Cancer legal and financial navigation
Free one-on-one phone help with health insurance, disability insurance, work and money questions from a cancer-focused legal-education nonprofit. It gives information, not legal representation or financial aid.
From Triage Cancer
Questions to keep handy
- What exactly was denied, and under which part of the plan?
- What is my deadline, and what is it counted from?
- Where and how do I send my request, and how will I prove it arrived?
- Who decides, and can I ask for a faster decision?
Not what you need? Find a person who can help, or search the whole site.