Content Overview
- Summary
- Why Review Your Hospital Bill
- When I Look At A Hospital Bill, Where Do I Start?
- Terminology To Look For In A Hospital Bill
- What Should I Do After I Discover Errors In My Hospital Bill?
- Insureds With Bills For Care Provided In The Hospital By Doctors Who Are Not In The Plan's Network Or Whose Services Are Not Pre-Approved
- If You Need Help Reviewing A Hospital Bill: Professional Claims Assistance
How To Review A Hospital Bill And What To Do If You Find An Error
Why Review Your Hospital Bill
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- Mistakes happen. Studies indicate that hospital bills are frequently inaccurate - and that most errors are in favor of the hospital. According to Charles Inlander of People's Medical Society, some of the most common errors to watch for are the following:
- Double billing - being charged twice for the same service or medication.
- "Up coding" - changing the description of a service from a lower-cost one to a more expensive one. An easy to understand example is being charged for an expensive brand name drug when what you received was the less expensive generic version.
- "Unbundling" - charging for one service as if it is two. For example, removing two growths at the same time, and charging as if there were two procedures instead of one.
- Services or medications that were not provided.
- Disputes with a doctor or hospital can affect your credit rating if you are sued or if a bill is turned over to a collection agency.
- Hospital costs are one of the main reasons for increased medical costs, including premiums and co-pays.
- If you are covered by insurance:
- You may be responsible for a deductible or a percentage of the bill.
- The higher your deductible, the less incentive your insurance company has to provide oversight on your claim.
- It is doing your part to help keep health costs - and ultimately your premium - down.
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