Hospital billing is ridiculous to deal with

[barkley]

Before prepaying for any medical care, contact your insurance company to see if the contract they have with that hospital or provider allows them to require prepayment. Chances are they don’t. If they do not, then tell the provider/hospital that you checked and your insurance provider says it violates their contract and ask them to send you the request in writing so you can report it to your insurance company. I have done this the few times this has happened and it was quick how fast they reversed course. I had the benefit of a career in healthcare finance administration, but most people don’t have that benefit.

excellent advice. I also recommend when receiving medical or dental bills after the fact to refer to one's insurance explanation of benefits for the particular appointment/test/procedure to double check that what you're being billed is accurate with the contracted amount between the provider and insurance company. I've gotten billed on more than one occasion by different providers for more than the difference between their contracted fee with my insurance company minus what my insurance paid. a call to the individual provider's billing office sometimes comes with fast resolution but has on occasion only been resolved when i've said I would just send the bill to my insurance company to research and resolve (then it gets adjusted down to the correct amount VERY quickly-i think they count on people giving up and paying it without pushing the issue).

 

[CdnCarrie]

The so glad not to deal with this nonsense in Canada