Sam Salganik is a Community Health Advocates (CHA) Central Helpline attorney at the Community Service Society.  In October 2010, Sam received a call on the Helpline from Susan*, who lives in Westchester.

Susan was having trouble resolving a dispute with her insurance company.  Her husband had undergone a very expensive medical treatment earlier in the year, which her insurance company had assured her would be covered.

However, the therapy was unsuccessful and Susan’s husband had passed away.

Soon afterwards she began receiving an overwhelming amount of medical bills for her husband’s treatment.  The bills amounted to $35,000 all together.  After repeatedly trying to resolve the matter with her insurance company, she was unable to get a straight answer.  That’s when she contacted CHA.

“Sam was assigned to the case, and it just relieved me so much…I was not doing it by myself. Someone was there alongside of me.  And they were assisting me and I had every bit of confidence in them.  I felt I was going to have a more positive outcome because I had this person on my side.”

Sam worked to straighten out the tangle of paperwork that Susan had been dealing with and helped her file an appeal with the insurance company.  Sam also decided to contact the university which had provided their health insurance.  Upon seeing Sam’s detailed files on the case, the university stepped in and was able to resolve the issue quickly for Susan.

“I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.  It was as if this heavy burden was lifted from my shoulders.  It was something I did not have to worry about any longer.  I had other things to deal with at the time.  I was still going through the grieving process.  It was still very fresh.”

With Sam’s help, Susan was able to get all of her husband’s medical bills covered by the insurance company without having to go to court.  She feels grateful both for the help she received, and just knowing that CHA is there for her.

“It doesn’t matter what your education level is, your knowledge, your language skills.  It doesn’t matter if you are an organized person or not.  You could reach a point where you can’t deal with it any longer and that means you need help.  There is assistance out there, just get out there and reach for it.  It is certainly well worth it.  It is well worth it financially, but emotionally as well.”

* Name changed to protect the client’s privacy.