You Can Negotiate Medical Bills

You Can Negotiate Medical Bills

Medical bills can be daunting. You never really get just one. A single medical procedure can result in a dozen separate bills. Some bills come from the hospital while some come from the attending physician. Even the anesthesiologist sends a separate bill.

Knowing where to start can be a difficult task. If you add up all of the bills, you may find that the total is more than you can reasonably afford to pay over the next several months.

The natural inclination is to start with the smaller bills and then put off the larger bills. This however could be a mistake, since larger liabilities tend to be passed onto collection agencies more readily than smaller bills.

What Insurance Companies Pay

Insurance companies follow a schedule of reasonable expenses for a long list of medical procedure. Each charge is evaluated, and insurance companies decide on a customary cost for that procedure.
The customary cost for each procedure is established after the insurance company negotiates with major health care providers. Insured patients who receive covered services can see exactly what insurance companies pay.

Their bills show the amount covered by the insurance company, the amount of copay and a third amount that is normally called “amount you do not owe.” This third column is the amount that uninsured patients are expected to overpay.

How to Negotiate your Medical Bills

Knowing which bills to negotiate can be important. If you are still receiving care by a doctor, it is usually important to pay the full amount. Otherwise, you could risk being denied future service, or having to prepay for services with that doctor.

Charges by the hospital or by other service providers can often be settled for a smaller amount. Knowing what would normally be discounted if paying through health insurance is the key to negotiating the charges.
If you know what the customary charge is for a procedure, then you can use that to pressure the biller to make an adjustment. Billers are under no obligation to reduce the charge, but they may compromise on the amount to avoid confrontation.

One important part to keep in mind is that you must reach a compromise with the biller. Have them reissue the bill showing the reduced amount and then promptly pay it.
Waiting for a bill to be sent to a debt collector and then trying to settle is a mistake. If you do this, your credit rating will suffer!

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