Sep 20, 2024
There’s a cost to receiving quality healthcare — hopefully, you have insurance to offset it. But there’s a difference between receiving a large bill for a series of diagnostic tests and follow-up exams and receiving a giant bill for two minutes of a doctor’s time.
Unfortunately, the latter can happen. Medical professionals can bill hundreds of dollars for their time even when it’s brief. You may spend just minutes at your doctor’s office only to come away with no real solution to your medical problem — and a very expensive bill. It’s no wonder so many Americans end up with medical bills they can’t pay off right away.
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A 2024 Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker analysis finds that 15% of U.S. households carried medical debt in 2021 and that roughly 14 million owe more than $1,000 in medical bills. Even scarier, a good 3 million people owe more than $10,000 in medical debt.
The good news is that you may have options when faced with a medical bill that seems outrageous. Here’s what to do.
Make sure your bill is accurate
Medical offices use diagnostic and procedure codes to bill patients and their insurance companies. Transposing a number could lead to a higher cost for you. So the next time you get a bill that seems disproportionate to the service you received, call your provider and question it. It may be that the wrong code was used, which your insurer may have rejected.
If you receive a basic invoice that lists your date of service and the amount you owe, ask for an itemized bill. This way, you can dig deeper and make sure you’re being billed for services you actually received.
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Make sure your insurer was billed in the first place
Sometimes, patients get stuck with expensive medical bills because claims are sent to the wrong insurance company or the wrong insurance ID was used. This can cause a claim to promptly get rejected. From there, your doctor’s office's next move is usually to send you a bill for the entire balance rather than confirm that their insurance information was accurate.
If you receive a giant, surprise bill, log into your health insurance account or contact your insurer to see why your claim was rejected. If there's no claim, it means your insurer was never billed. At that point, you'll need to contact your provider with the right information.
Try to negotiate
Medical providers are sometimes willing to negotiate with patients — particularly the uninsured. It's worth contacting your provider if you receive a bill you can't reasonably cover. They may be willing to settle your bill for a smaller amount that you pay off over time. Or, they may give you a discount for paying your bill in full on the spot.
If your provider won’t knock any money off your bill, ask for a zero-interest payment plan. Resist the urge to put the bill on a credit card you pay off over time since that could result in lots of accrued interest.
Read More: Dave Ramsey says this 7-step plan ‘works every single time’ to kill debt, get rich in America — and that ‘anyone’ can do it
Enlist the help of a health advocate
Some employers make health advocates available to their employees. These professionals investigate medical bills and work to have charges lowered or written off.
If you don't have this benefit through your job, you can hire a patient advocate. However, make sure you understand the costs involved in hiring a professional to fight on your behalf. Review their fees to ensure they are worth paying.
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Maurie Backman has been writing professionally for well over a decade. Since becoming a full-time writer, she's produced thousands of articles on topics ranging from Social Security to investing to real estate.
