Omar Atiq Via ABC News
We keep saying that kindness is all around us because every single one of us truly has the potential to change lives within their means. Thanks to one doctor over 200 Cancer patients are starting off their year debt-free. This doctor single-handedly managed to get rid of $650,000 of his patients’ debt.
He went above and beyond when treating them, even though he didn’t have to, but because he could. The incredible doctor from Arkansas, made the decision to do everything in his powerful to help his patients overcome their medical bills because he cared. Here’s how he made it happen.
National Cancer Institute / Unsplash
National Cancer Institute / Unsplash
Dr. Omar Atiq has been a medical oncologist for nearly 40 years. He’s had many patients come and go but he also saw that their bills didn’t always leave with them. Many couldn’t afford to pay off what they owed even though they had no option but to get treated.
After nearly three decades in business, Dr. Atiq is closing his clinic, but he’s not leaving his patients behind.
National Cancer Institute / Unsplash
National Cancer Institute / Unsplash
The worst part about being sick isn’t just the illness itself but the fact that it’s imposed. No one “chooses” to get sick, especially a fatal life-changing one like Cancer. The even worst part is that some people truly can’t afford to be sick. They can’t afford the time off without losing their job, their families, their homes even if their body is falling apart. They can’t even afford to go see a doctor.
Being alive is a human right yet we’ve put a price tag on it and only those who can pay to get better can find treatment back to health. This means that those who chose life but can’t afford it, just end up with debt they can never imagine getting out of.
Angiola Harry / Unsplash
Angiola Harry / Unsplash
An Illness like Cancer isn’t like the common cold where you can just show up to work anyway and push through. It completely puts a pause on life where the one and only priority is to resume basic function. Dr. Atiq’s patients had anywhere between hundreds to thousands of dollars in debt and he wasn’t okay with that:
“Since I started practicing, I’ve always been rather uncomfortable with sick patients not only having to worry about their own health and quality of life and their longevity and their families and their jobs but also money,” he said to ABC News. “That’s always tugged at me.”
Dr. Atiq couldn’t bear watching his patients’ suffering any longer. Not only did they have to worry about their body’s declining health, but basic needs like bills. When the billing company tried to get him to reach out to his patients for several months after closing to try to collect payments, he decided that needed to stop.
“Over time I realized that there are people who just are unable to pay,” Atiq told “Good Morning America.” “So my wife and I, as a family, we thought about it and looked at forgiving all the debt.”
“We saw that we could do it and then just went ahead and did it,” he said.
Take a quick zodiac reading here to find out what your universe has to say about you right now.
Just in time for the holidays, Dr. Atiq gave his patient the most generous gift of all, forgiveness for all their outstanding guests. Around 200 of his patients received a holiday greeting that read,
“I hope this note finds you well. The Arkansas Cancer Clinic was proud to serve you as a patient. Although various health insurances pay most of the bills for the majority of patients, even the deductibles and co-pays can be burdensome. Unfortunately, that is the way our health care system currently works. Arkansas Cancer Clinic is closing its practice after over 29 years of dedicated service to the community. The clinic has decided to forego all balances owed to the clinic by its patients. Happy Holidays.”
We may not all be able to work with insurance companies to forgive hundreds of thousands of dollars for debt but it is the principle here that matters. Dr. Atiq went searching for a way to help his community. He saw the suffering of his patients and he knew that simply treating them wouldn’t be enough: “I saw patients over the years who just didn’t have anything or who went bankrupt trying to pay for their treatment,” he said. “In many ways it seems like a totally unfair situation.”
So he went out of his way to think of whatever means he could take advantage of to help. Rather than be complacent because we assume there’s nothing we can do, there’s always help that can be of service to our community if we just look hard enough.
Dr. Atiq has passed on his desire and willingness to help those around him to his entire family. He has four children, all of whom are either doctors or studying to become doctors and who all share the belief that, “one of the things that always bothers everyone I believe is to see sick patients having to worry about things other than they’re getting healthy or getting better.”
The family never turns away patients when they can’t pay. They hope that more patients can live their lives debt-free and only worry about their health.
You can help too! Are you still searching for your life purpose? Tap into the 4,000-year-old science of Numerology and find out what can reveal about you.
The numerology of your birth date, regardless of what month you were born, can reveal surprising information about what the universe has to say about you right now. Understand your purpose and your potential so that you can be of the most service to yourself, and everyone around
We keep saying that kindness is all around us because every single one of us truly has the potential to change lives within their means. Thanks to one doctor over 200 Cancer patients are starting off their year debt-free. This doctor single-handedly managed to get rid of $650,000 of his patients’ debt.
He went above and beyond when treating them, even though he didn’t have to, but because he could. The incredible doctor from Arkansas, made the decision to do everything in his powerful to help his patients overcome their medical bills because he cared. Here’s how he made it happen.
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