Negotiating hospital bill

ashs · May 2009

I got my hospital bill yesterday and was completely expecting the total, there were no surprises. However, my step-dad told me that when he was in a car accident a few years ago and was life flighted and in several hospitals and had a lot of follow up care, that he called everyone and negotiated his bills and every place but one took some off and he ended up saving $14,000 total. I guess it can't hurt to try but wanted to see if any of you did this with success.

GeminiKMP-C · May 2009

I know that with our hospital, if you pay the full amount within a certain number of days of service, you get a 20% discount. I think it's like 14 days or something, which obviously doesn't help you, but I wonder if they might offer a discount if you pay the amount in full vs. payments.

ashs · May 2009

Well, I know when they bill me for my office visits they give a discount for paying within 30 days of the billing date, so at the least I would get that discount which I believe is 10-20%. Not bad!

Crazycrustacean · May 2009

I would imagine that you could totally negotiate with them. Just call them & ask. If they say no, tell them you want a detailed bill and then go through it and question everything.?

I guarantee that when you bring up the fact that you can go buy a box of kleenex for $2 versus the $30 they billed your ins co, they'll knock the bill down A LOT! ?

mlf625 · May 2009

I know they can sometimes be negotiated if you're truly in a financial hardship and paying in full will break you or the bills are some insane amount (like your step dad's probably was). ?If that's not your case, I'd be surprised if you'd be able to negotiate- a hospital is a business. ?And forgiving bills for people who don't necessarily need it just causes everyone else to have to pay more- they need to make up that money somewhere.?

Sorry, but I just think if the bill is what you were expecting it's your obligation to pay. ?My hospital also offered a discount (10%) for paying in full, check on that.?

ashs · May 2009

Oh, yes I'm completely okay paying the full amount, I was expecting it, I just thought that if they would knock some off then it's worth asking about.

SeminoleJessica · May 2009

Im going to agree with mlf on this one but wanted to say I def. think you might be able to work out a payment plan..

Mrs.SPM · May 2009

The hospital I delivered at would not discount my bill at all. I went off on them b/c I work at a different hospital and we ALWAYS discount our bills if someone asks. I have never heard of a hospital not doing this. You can try if the patient account rep won't do it ask to speak to the patient account manager. The should at least give you 10% if you can pay in full or get on a payment plan. GL

Negotiating hospital bill

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