Comments on: Handling a Large Medical Bill

By: Katrina

Katrina — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:39:41 +0000

I couldn’t agree more about sending ONE bill. But even if facilities, doctors and hospitals agreed to this, there is still no guarantee that confusions would be resolved. Most facilities that send one comprehensive bill still only send an overview. To get any detailed information, you often have to make the effort and call the billing department to request an itemized bill to see what you are being charged for. On top of that most explanations of benefit (EOBs) only list “medical services” which isn’t very helpful either.

As far as negotiating is concerned, Jennifer I do not agree with you. On the patient side, it is all about making an effort. If you ignore your bills, then yes – the hospital is going to send you to collections. We cannot forget that hospitals are a business, just like any other, trying to make money (whether that’s right or wrong is another story)!

However, if you call the hospital and attempt to negotiate your bill, they are often willing to work with you. Some facilities, due to insurance contractual agreements, cannot negotiated down the patient’s balance… that DOES NOT mean you have no ability to negotiate. Most hospitals just want to get paid and are therefore more than willing to set up payment terms. Many will provide you with a monthly payment agreement that has a really low monthly payment amount and zero interest.

Furthermore, if you are uninsured, you do not have a contract with an insurance company to cover your care. This means that the hospital isn’t legally bound to collect the full balance on the hospital bill from you. Call the billing department and ask for the lowest insurance negotiated rate on the services you received. If they will not give you the lowest insurance rate, ask for an uninsured discount. If they are completely unwilling to negotiate, make sure to ask for information on assistant programs. There is often a charitable fund set up to help cover costs of care and/or government assistance programs.

By: jennifer england

jennifer england — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 00:29:27 +0000

The solution is to charge everyone the same price for the same service and give everyone price transperancy. It is a canard to assume that patients are really able to negotiate with hospitals though and in fact many of the new Health 2.0 companies like Athena health market themselves as being able to collect twice as fast. Many if not all hospitals will quickly send your bills to collection and once it is there you have NO ability to negotiate.

If you are low income most hospitals will have a program to help you with the bills but they often don’t tell you about it until it is too late. Even though your event happens in one hospital is is mind boggling how many different bills you receive. radiology, radiologist, physician, hospital, etc. They should send ONE bill.

By: Rich Sagall

Rich Sagall — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 18:44:41 +0000

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