Check For Errors in Your Hospital Bill
We all have heard horror stories of hospitals charging $75 for an aspirin.
The truth is that there is some administration fee incorporated into that $75, but nonetheless it does seem a bit steep.
The result, however, is that these stories cause people not to trust hospitals with regard to their bill.
Overbilling is not an uncommon thing, and it is always a good idea to review a hospital bill line by line.
One young nurse recently had an eye opening experience as she was reviewing the bills from her husband's recent hospital stay.
It appears he had been scheduled to be released on a particular day, and that wasn't communicated somehow, causing him to have to stay an extra day.
There were excessive charges for administering medication 7 times per day when it was only prescribed 4 times per day.
And then there was the charge for $875 for one item that she knew from her hospital work should have only been around $80.
Clerical error.
By the time she was finished, she had discovered nearly $7000 of incorrect charges.
So some good advice to all is to ask for an itemized bill and make sure that you check through it carefully.
If you don't know much about them, then pay cash and sit down with your doctor, not the billing department, to review each individual charge on your bill and what it means and take notes and ask questions.
Finding out what you are being billed for, and don't just accept it at face value.
There are also resources that you can use to help you find out more information about your bill, there are patient advocates available and if you are having problems dealing with your insurance company you can contact the insurance commissioner in the state you live in, and they can help you.
Medical insurance is there to protect us in case we need it.
And hospital stays are unpleasant enough without having to deal with a bill laden with codes and numbers.
The hospital can decypher this for you and they will.
We know medical bills can be filled with errors and you should not have to pay for things you did not receive.
So do your homework, put a little effort into it, and you'll find that the resolution of the errors will work out as it should.
The truth is that there is some administration fee incorporated into that $75, but nonetheless it does seem a bit steep.
The result, however, is that these stories cause people not to trust hospitals with regard to their bill.
Overbilling is not an uncommon thing, and it is always a good idea to review a hospital bill line by line.
One young nurse recently had an eye opening experience as she was reviewing the bills from her husband's recent hospital stay.
It appears he had been scheduled to be released on a particular day, and that wasn't communicated somehow, causing him to have to stay an extra day.
There were excessive charges for administering medication 7 times per day when it was only prescribed 4 times per day.
And then there was the charge for $875 for one item that she knew from her hospital work should have only been around $80.
Clerical error.
By the time she was finished, she had discovered nearly $7000 of incorrect charges.
So some good advice to all is to ask for an itemized bill and make sure that you check through it carefully.
If you don't know much about them, then pay cash and sit down with your doctor, not the billing department, to review each individual charge on your bill and what it means and take notes and ask questions.
Finding out what you are being billed for, and don't just accept it at face value.
There are also resources that you can use to help you find out more information about your bill, there are patient advocates available and if you are having problems dealing with your insurance company you can contact the insurance commissioner in the state you live in, and they can help you.
Medical insurance is there to protect us in case we need it.
And hospital stays are unpleasant enough without having to deal with a bill laden with codes and numbers.
The hospital can decypher this for you and they will.
We know medical bills can be filled with errors and you should not have to pay for things you did not receive.
So do your homework, put a little effort into it, and you'll find that the resolution of the errors will work out as it should.
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