Giving Children with Substantial Medical Debt a Fresh Start: The Launch of Atlanta Charity Called Bedside Angel Helps Relieve Children Who Are Long-Term Patients of Accrued Medical Expenses

Bedside Angel Org.
P.O. Box 20253
Atlanta, Ga 30325
www.bedside-angel.org

Atlanta, GA, Wednesday, March 30, 2011---
For the average 18 year-old, constructing a solid foundation for the future is already a daunting and frightening responsibility. Trying to endeavor into adulthood with tens of thousands of medical debt under your belt, however, sets any child 10 steps behind the starting gun and their peers. The growing burden of medical expenses hitting America’s children is forcing them to see red and find bankruptcy before they can even drive, leading to a tumultuous future built at the bottom of a quicksand sinkhole.

Thousands of children across the nation are currently accruing medical debt at exponential rates. Children indebted to remain in the healthcare system long-term are not only victims to their particular disease or medical ailment, but to a minimum or no insurance policy barely meeting the bottom-line expense for necessary, life-altering medical procedures.

Just because a family has year-round insurance coverage does not guarantee protection. Gaps in benefits and substantial cost-sharing can undermine family finances in ways similar to having no insurance. Indeed, studies find an association between having medical bill problems or accrued debt and having a health insurance plan that lacks prescription drug or dental care coverage, or a plan that features high deductibles. In 2003 and 2004 alone, 50 percent of all personal bankruptcies were the result of medical debt of those with insurance.

A child who has suffered a limb amputation, for instance, may only have 10 percent of his/her prosthetic covered on $40,000. Falling through similar cracks are transplant surgeries and other detrimental procedures that receive minimal or no coverage. Insurance providers’ shortcomings also include prescription costs, like in/outpatient IV treatments or oral antibiotics, as well as necessary post-hospitalization supplies.

Luckily, a new Atlanta-based organization called Bedside Angel, believes in erasing or drastically reducing the patient’s debt in order to provide the child with a fresh start and equal opportunity at a successful future. The charity relies on donations and grants assisting children that have accrued significant debt due to continuous health ailments.

Founded by Anastasia Bartolucci and Jordan Bertram, Bedside Angel was coined and inspired by Ms. Bartolucci’s sister, Kayla, a 21 year old survivor of cancer and its resulting medical ailments. Kayla was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma at only 6 months old, severing spinal and nerve function so that--even after beating the disease--Kayla rotated in and out of a wheelchair for the next 20 years of her childhood. On August 18, 2009, a super-infection and by-product of a severe case of Osteomyelitis struck Kayla’s right leg forcing immediate amputation. Now, less than one year later, a positive and walking young woman bears the Scottish Rite name tag “Bedside Angel” as she inspires the lives of many young patients and their families with assistance and the hope that they can one day overcome adversity as well.


Distinguishing the charity from other children’s nonprofits is its ability to provide direct sponsorship between donors and patients, alleviating the apprehension of whether funds are being appropriately distributed to the mission. The organization has designed a line of apparel and jewelry to kickstart the charity with unique, youth-inspired merchandise. Each purchase made to the Bedside Angel Store will be donated to a Bedside Angel child.

The organization officially launches April 4, 2011 and anticipates to circulate awareness via future newsletters, campaigns, fundraisers and community involvement. The charity, alongside several affiliate organizations and Atlanta-area hospitals, pledges a clean slate and an equal-opportunity future to every deserving child, hoping that Bedside Angel sponsors will give a child the wings to make the sky their limit.

Anyone wising to donate and/or seek involvement with the organization is invited to visit the official charity website www.bedside-angel.org and the Bedside Angel Store www.bedside-angel.org/store, where they can be directed to the appropriate links for getting involved.

Bedside Angel is a nonprofit organization based out of Atlanta, Ga who relies on donations to assist children who have accrued substantial debt due to continuous health aliments. Our promise is to erase or drastically reduce the patient's debt to provide them with a clean slate and equal opportunity at a successful future.

- Company name: Bedside Angel
- Company postal address: P.O. Box 20253
Atlanta, Ga 30325
- Website: www.bedside-angel.org
- General info: info@bedside-angel.org
- Press contact: jordan@bedside-angel.org

This release was published on openPR.