Medical Bills

After being on the phone all day disputing medical bills (I saved our family $327!), I thought I needed to pass along a little information. Fortunately, I used to work in medical collections, so I could use some of the terminology to get my point across. I am astonished at some of the outrageous things the hospital and other providers tried to tell me today!

1. Never pay a medical bill until you have compared it to the Explanation of Benefits (EOB) that you receive from your insurance company.

2. On your EOB, you will see a portion that says Patient Responsibility. This is ALL that you are responsible for paying.

3. You are not responsible for paying the Negotiated Discount, Non-covered charges (unless included in the Patient Responsibility part), or Write-off amount. Your medical provider and insurance company are under contract together. If your medical provider is not happy about what the insurance company didn't pay, then they can take that up with them, or not accept them anymore.

4. If they continue to try and bill you for these charges, inform them that you will report this to your insurance company. This is insurance fraud.

I used to take my medical bills at face value, and trusted the billing office clerk to know what he/she was doing. Usually, it's the insurance company that's trying to scam me! Ultimately, the patient is responsible for making sure claims are filed correctly. It is your responsibility to watch your bills and keep these people on their toes! Every penny counts!