If you’re struggling with mounting debt and medical bills, you may be wondering if you can negotiate your medical bills. You can successfully negotiate with medical providers to reduce your medical bills, but you have to be willing to ask for what you want. Insurance companies are not the only ones who can negotiate with hospitals and medical providers. Most insurance companies receive a 60 percent discount. If a large insurer receives a 60% discount, you can certainly negotiate a 30 percent reduction in your total costs. If you visit the hospital in person and explain your situation, you may get a substantial discount. When you visit the hospital, ask for the CFO or the manager of accounts payable.
How much of a reduction can you get? The reduction amount is completely determined by the opinion of the billing office, CFO, or whoever makes decisions at the medical office. When negotiating your medical bills, it’s important to understand which bills to negotiate. If you are still receiving medical care from a provider, it’s very important that you pay the full amount. If you don’t, you could risk being denied future medical care, or having to prepay.
The key to successfully negotiating your medical bills is knowing what would normally be discounted if you were paying through health insurance. If you know what the standard charge is for a procedure (through health insurance), then you can use that information to your advantage. Ask the medical billing office to make an adjustment, based on the standard charge if you were paying through health insurance. Medical providers are not obligated to lower the charge; however, they may compromise to avoid confrontation and argument. When you reach a compromise with the medical billing office, it’s important to have them reissue the bill showing the reduced fee. Once you receive the invoice for the reduced bill, pay the bill immediately.
Do not wait until your medical bills are sent to a debt collection agency before trying to negotiate. If you wait until your medical bills are passed on to an agency, then your credit rating will suffer. Use the steps above to begin negotiating your medical bills so that you can get a handle on your debt.