How to spot and fight medical billing errors

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.mint.com/blog/how-to/medical-billing-errors-05042011/

“Getting overcharged on a medical bill? Won’t happen to me.” Sure it’s easy to ignore, but with eight out of 10 medical bills containing errors (according to Medical Billing Advocates of America), the odds are really stacked against you. You are getting inaccurate bills, and if you haven’t yet, you likely will.

On top of this, hospitals are getting more aggressive and waste little time sending people to collections or filing liens against them for outstanding medical bills. The Federal Reserve reported in December that medical bills account for over half of all debts in collection. If that happens, your credit score could be hurt.

Also, did you know there is a lifetime cap on most insurance plans? It is often limited to $500,000 – $1 million per person, which sounds hefty enough, however continuous treatment in a hospital for several days can pile into hundreds of thousands of dollars, quickly eating through this limit.

To protect your health and your wallet, here are four steps to identify medical billing errors, and three steps to fight them:

More at the link --

[ohnoyoudidnt]

1. Yes, those pesky "errors". nt

[WillyT]

2. Thank You !!! - K & R !!!

:yourock:

:hi:

:kick:

[Warpy]

3. And when the hospital is stonewalling, write a formal complaint

to the state Attorney General. That's what I did when I was grossly overcharged. I went to the length of looking up the coding. I think signing the letter with "RN" added did help. I sent a copy to Medicare since the stonewalling meant they felt they had a perfect right to pad their bills.

It took the AG's office only one nasty letter and they folded. Then Medicare did launch an investigation.

Bottom line? Don't piss off the Irish. And don't try to pad a bill for an RN who knows where to look up coding.

[jtrockville]

4. Weren't lifetime caps banned in the health insurance reform?

[kevinbgoode]

5. Thank you for this link. . .

I am already working triple overload this summer to pay off outrageous medical bills for a four-hour outpatient surgery. The cost is staggering.

But there is also no excuse for an 80% rate of billing error. 80%! This has to stop.

[jaxx]

6. Lifetime limits have been changed.

NEW CONSUMER PROTECTIONS
Eliminating Lifetime Limits on Insurance Coverage

Effective for health plan years beginning on or after September 23, 2010

Under the new law, insurance companies will be prohibited from imposing lifetime dollar limits on essential benefits, like hospital stays.

http://www.healthcare.gov/law/timeline/index.html


More info here>> http://www.healthcare.gov/law/provisions/limits/limits.html

No annual dollar limits are allowed on most covered benefits beginning on January 1, 2014.