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Hospital Charges (continued)
7. Make sure you understand your doctor’s policy for adding extra charges in addition to the procedure. Some doctors charge for visits to your room and admission and release visits. If other doctors visit you, understand why and whether there is a charge. Do not be bashful about questioning why a doctor is there. You may get charged for a service you really did not need. And if another doctor is providing you treatment at the hospital, make sure they are also covered under your healthcare plan. Just because your plan covers charges from the hospital you are in, does not mean that all the doctors working in that hospital will accept your insurance coverage.
8. Consider bringing whatever you can from home to save money. For instance,
hospital medications are very expensive. See if your doctor will let you bring in
both over-
9. Question if visits to rehabilitation are really necessary. Some hospitals will routinely send you to a therapy class to tell you the obvious, and charge you hundreds of dollars for the privilege.
10. Regarding your final hospital bill, insist on getting a detailed bill of every charge by day. The hospital may resist this but will eventually supply the details. Check to make sure all of the charges are accurate, and that you understand and agree with all charges. If you don’t understand, question the charges. Somehow, items that you never received seem to appear on hospital bills. Check for the following:
a. Were you charged for the right kind of room for the right number of days? If you left before checkout time, did they charge you for an extra day? Were you charged for any days your baby did not spend in the nursery?
b. Did you receive all tests and procedures listed on the bill?
c. Are the doctors’ visits recorded correctly?
d. Are any charges for extra treatment like therapy accurate?
e. Were there any charges for blood and, if so, were any donations that might offset the cost included as credits?
f. Were you charged for any equipment that you did not take home?
g. Were there charges for medications and disposable supplies that you did not use?
h. Are there any other charges that don’t make sense?
11. Don’t be shy about negotiating with the hospital. Hospitals generally charge about three times their actual cost, but give large discounts to both medicare and insurance plans. However, they generally do not give any discounts to individuals paying their own bill because they are either uninsured or underinsured. Individuals are expected to pay the full charge, which is often at least twice or more what medicare or insurance plans actually pay. However, most hospitals will give you a discount if you are persistent enough, even though they say they won’t. Try the following:
a. Ask the hospital what amount Medicare would pay for the same charges you received. Also ask what large insurance companies would pay. Ask why you should pay more. Then ask the hospital to adjust your bill accordingly. If they refuse, go to the hospital’s chief financial officer and ask them to justify why you are being charged excessively, and ask for a reduced bill that reflects the hospital’s actual costs plus a 25% markup. If possible, tell them you will pay the bill immediately once you receive a statement reflecting reasonable charges. Be insistent that you will only pay reasonable charges.
b. Consider enlisting the services of a company like HospitalBillReview.com (or others found on the Internet) to review your bill and recommend what you reasonably ought to pay. While there is a fee for this service, it is usually relatively small (around $100). Armed with this information go back to the hospital and restart negotiations.
c. Help on how to negotiate down your hospital bill may also be available at Access Project (AccessProject.org) where personnel may be available to help coach you on how to negotiate with the hospital.
d. In any case, do not give up your quest for a reasonable hospital bill, even if threatened by the hospital with collection agencies and other actions. Just keep insisting that you want to pay your bill, but you want it to be a reasonable bill. Your chances of succeeding are quite good.
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