I'm not sure if this is the appropriate forum for this. If not, I can repost elsewhere.

I was in a bike accident several weeks ago that required an emergency room visit and an overnight stay in the hospital. I received my bill today and it is a bit more than I expected. I have heard of folks calling the hospital and negotiating a lower bill, but don't know exactly how to go about this. Has anyone here had experience with this?

Is insurance involved ?

frenchtoast said:

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I'm not sure if this is the appropriate forum for this. If not, I can repost elsewhere.

I was in a bike accident several weeks ago that required an emergency room visit and an overnight stay in the hospital. I received my bill today and it is a bit more than I expected. I have heard of folks calling the hospital and negotiating a lower bill, but don't know exactly how to go about this. Has anyone here had experience with this?

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Most non-profit hospitals will offer a discount. What area or hospital?

Any chance you have accident insurance or a secondary insurance (such as through USAC)? I had accident insurance and didn't remember it until nearly a month after my accident... it paid out substantially for me, granted I had a bit more going on from the sounds of it.

Don't be afraid to let it go to collections if they won't negotiate. I've been doing it for 10 years with no repercussions to my credit score.

The medical billing system in this country is a racket.

Here is a good website that will provide a third party data point on whether what they're charging you is reasonable or not.

https://www.fairhealthconsumer.org/

I've negotiated a couple times. Hospitals are like everyone else, they want to get paid something instead of nothing. Talk to them, ask if they can reduce, delay, take payments, etc. Remind them that times are hard and you're doing the best you can. In my experience -

one took a cash payment on the spot (wrote a check) for much less than the total billed amount.
the other allowed me to pay $10/month interest free for many months until it was paid off

Yes, the bill I received already has the insurance coverage deducted.

Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque, NM. According to their website, they are not-for-profit.

No, just the coverage I get through my employer (Aetna). I will review the policy to see if there is accident coverage. I guess I assumed that would have already been deducted if so, but you know what they say about assuming!

Pepper Brooks said:

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Don't be afraid to let it go to collections if they won't negotiate. I've been doing it for 10 years with no repercussions to my credit score.

The medical billing system in this country is a racket.

Here is a good website that will provide a third party data point on whether what they're charging you is reasonable or not.

https://www.fairhealthconsumer.org/

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Thanks! I will check that out.

chico said:

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I've negotiated a couple times. Hospitals are like everyone else, they want to get paid something instead of nothing. Talk to them, ask if they can reduce, delay, take payments, etc. Remind them that times are hard and you're doing the best you can. In my experience -

one took a cash payment on the spot (wrote a check) for much less than the total billed amount.
the other allowed me to pay $10/month interest free for many months until it was paid off

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I have heard about asking for a cash amount and was planning to go that route. I can definitely cover it, but any kind of relief would be nice.

Unfortunately, I have found on the last few times that they don't seem to want to negotiate anymore, they just go straight to a payment plan for the full amount.

Were you solo or on a club ride? Some club's insurance covers incidents occurred during sanctioned events. We had a tri club member lose his two front teeth faceplanting over-the-bars and USAT picked up the whole bill.

For future reference, USA Cycling offers a membership level that includes bike accident medical insurance with $0 deductible.

Does the hospital bill match the explanation of benefits from your insurance company says you should owe? There have been multipe times I had to talk to providers because they just sent a bill for what their system said and not based on what insurance paid according the terms of their agreement. There's also alot of other things at play such as copay, coinsurance, deductible and out of pocket maximum that factor into the final balance from the hospital. I've seen many people get hit hard because they opted for the less expensive plan but got hit with a big deductible when they needed to use it.

I feel like the whole process is convoluted and the people fairly worthless.....

I had stitches put in a few years ago. Went back a week later to just have them cut out, which was "free" or at least included in my initial visit for the stitches.

Well, I got a bill for that second visit. It was small, but I'm not paying so I call them. They put me on hold, check with their system, and agree and will have it removed. Instead they sent it to collections. Still dealing with those asshats, and tell them the same story every time I get an automated email or call.

I was told by a hospital finance guy that hospitals on average collect about 10% of what insurance doesn't cover.

I'd negotiate the cash price close to that.