Whether you’ve had a minor health setback or a major health crisis, you still might be facing more medical debt than you’re prepared to handle.

Medical care is one of the biggest expenses people will face during their lifetime. The skyrocketing costs of medical care show no signs of stopping.

That leaves many of us vulnerable to finding ourselves in this situation. So what can you do when your medical bills are stacking up, and you can’t pay them all?

Don’t Ignore Them

It can be tempting to stick your head in the sand, but that’s the wrong approach to take. You have to face your situation head-on if you want to have any prayer of coming out unscathed.

So grab all your medical bills that arrive at your house and put them in a folder or a bigger envelope so they’re all grouped for easy access. It may help you to put them in order from the lowest amount owed to the highest amount owed.

If there are any lower amounts you can pay off with the money you have saved at that point, you should do that.

Examine the Bills

Being asked to look over medical bills can be like being asked to take a test in Spanish when you’ve never had a single lesson. It’s hard to crack the codes on some of these medical bills in order for you to determine if you’re being overcharged.

But look over the list and do your best anyway. You might find some errors that will cut down your bill some.

Do Some Bargaining

Try to bargain with your debtors to see if you can knock some money off of the bills you have been given. That may be easier if you don’t have insurance. If you have insurance, chances are your bills have already been lowered somewhat because insurance companies often get a discounted amount from medical providers.

Set Up a Payment Plan

If you know you aren’t going to be able to afford to pay a bill in full, call the billing department and ask to set up a payment plan as soon as possible. It’s in their best interest to do so, especially if you make it clear you won’t be able to pay the bill if you don’t get a payment plan.

Let them know how much wiggle room you have in your budget and what you can afford to send every month until the debt is clear.

Check on Assistance Programs

Some hospitals or doctor offices have programs in place to help the most economically challenged of their patients. If you are in the poverty level, you might have an easier time getting assistance. You can also take a stab at contacting national charities that may be able to help you.

Do Your Best

Once you commit to sending a certain amount of money to a doctor or hospital to clear up your debt, do your best to meet your obligations. It’s not fun to pay off medical debt, but you received the care so it’s only right you do the best you can.

You’ve come into some money from an inheritance. Whether you’ve been expecting the money or it was a total surprise to you, you’re in the position to do something good for your finances if you react rationally instead of emotionally.

It can prove to be too tempting when people get a lot of money handed to them all once. They can make some bad decisions that can come back to haunt them.

To make sure you don’t become one of those people, you need to develop a strategy.

Think About Your Goals

You need to align this money with your core values and the goals you hope to accomplish financially and emotionally.

If you have a goal of working fewer hours, but you’ve found yourself trapped in a vicious cycle of working overtime each week to pay down your debt, it makes sense to use that inheritance to pay some of that debt off. Then you can reduce your workload a bit.

Or if your current finances were doing fine before the inheritance came along, you could use a bit of the money to indulge yourself in your dreams of traveling more.

Knowing your goals and what you want out of life is crucial to figuring out what to do with your inheritance, so it’s time to do some soul-searching.

Create an Emergency Fund

If you don’t already have an emergency fund, now is the perfect time to do it. Use part of the money to set one up.

If you hate the idea of parking that money in a savings account that barely draws any interest, you could put a couple thousand in the savings account and use a money market account for the rest of the emergency fund money.

It will draw more interest than a standard savings account will and there will be more restrictions on when you can use it. You’ll still be able to access the money in a true emergency, but you’ll be less likely to tap it when it’s in a money market account.

Pay Off Credit Card Debt

If you have credit card debt, that’s the absolute first debt you should retire with your inheritance. The high APR you’re paying can sink your financial goals, so it makes sense to take care of that debt first. After it’s gone, try to avoid credit card debts at all costs.

Tackle Other Debt

After the credit card debt is gone, use your inheritance to pay off any car loans or even your mortgage if there is enough left. It will help you reduce how much money you have to shell out monthly. After you’ve reduced your overhead, make sure you bulk up your retirement savings to really put those lowered monthly payments to work for you.

Add to or Start Your IRA

Starting an IRA or bulking up the one you already have is a great strategy for long-term growth. This will help ensure your inheritance will continue to work for you in the future.