Matthew and I went bowling with friends recently, and he injured his bicep throwing the ball. We originally were told he would not require surgery, but his MRI results came back this week and showed a full tear—requiring emergency surgery today (4/15). To our dismay, insurance will not cover the procedure because we were unable to obtain an immediate PCP referral (which our HMO plan requires), and even if we had one, the in-network surgeon could not see Matthew this week and informed us the specific surgery he needed is usually denied by insurance because bicep tendon replacement is considered an elective procedure by most plans.

Because of this, we had to use an out-of-network surgeon as a cash-pay patient, and are now facing around $18k out of pocket for Matthew to have this surgery and hopefully make a full recovery. We paid $2,000 today and are required to pay the remainder over 12 months at $1,333 per month through Care Credit. After 12 months, we will face a 24% interest charge.

This financial blow comes after learning last week the time has come for us to begin paying his student loans, and our payment is $1,076.00 per month. So in the span of one week, we’ve learned over $2,400 of our monthly income is required for these debts—and we cannot cope with both without your help.

If you’d like to be part of Matthew’s road to recovery and help us raise the $18k for his surgery, no contribution is too small. If you would be willing to share this page on your own social media to help us spread the word, we would be so grateful for any and all help received