Healthier Supply
If you think the healthcare industry is always right when it comes to billing, think again. Want proof? Have a look at these two shocking statistics:
- The Medical Billing Advocates of America found that nearly 80% of hospital bills have errors.
- A report from the National Academy of Medicine estimates that the amount of money spent on overpriced or unnecessary treatments is a whopping $210 billion.
How To Prevent and Fight Medical Overcharges
To ensure that you don’t pay more for medical care than you should, you’ll need to take a two-pronged approach. Not only will you need to take steps to prevent overcharges, but you’ll also need to fight them should they occur. Here are some tips to achieve those goals:
1. Communicate before receiving any care.
It’s not uncommon for someone to feel sick, hit the emergency room, and walk out with a hospital bill in the thousands that takes them years to pay. Instead of being silent and trusting that doctors are doing everything in your best interest, question everything.
For instance, if you’re in the ER and get sent for a scan of some sort, ask why you’re getting it.
Ask if you can get the scan next week with your doctor. Why? Because statistics show that everything costs more in the emergency room, and you could end up paying three to four times more than getting the work done elsewhere.
By simply asking questions, you’ll not only prevent overcharges and unnecessary procedures, but you’ll also feel more informed about the entire process and what’s going on.
This can relieve the anxiety that comes with going to a hospital or doctor.
2. Shop around.
When buying anything, do you always purchase the first option you see? Probably not, as you want to get the best price so you can save the most money. Treat healthcare the same, as you can (and should) shop around before getting any procedures.
If you know you need medical care, a few quick calls can give you pricing information to help you choose the most affordable option. Skip this step, and you may end up overpaying.
3. Negotiate medical bills.
Are you a good negotiator? If so, you can put that skill to work with medical bills by negotiating down prices. Does this really work? According to Consumer Reports, yes, as 57 percent said they had success with negotiating medical bills to save money.
If you don’t know much about negotiation or would rather not do it yourself, you can hire a medical billing advocate. They’ll represent you to negotiate with billing departments to help save you some cash.
4. Act quickly and speak up.
The second you get a bill, look it over and make sure all of the charges and procedures are correct. If anything is off, contact the billing office immediately.
The longer you wait, the higher the chance of your bill getting outsourced. Once it hits a billing office that’s out of state, your chances of lowering that bill will be greatly reduced, and you’ll have a mess on your hands.
5. Get your bills itemized.
You want your medical bills to be as detailed as possible so you can analyze all of the charges and know what they represent. By requesting an itemized bill, you can avoid having to figure out what “miscellaneous charges” mean, as they’re a common source of overcharges.
