had outpatient gallbladder surgery in january, got the bill last week and almost passed out. called billing on a whim and asked for the itemized statement instead of the summary they mailed me — turns out they double-billed the recovery room AND coded my anesthesia at the wrong tier. fixing those errors plus filling out the hospital's financial assistance form (which they never mention exists anywhere) took me from $4,807 to $617. why is asking for an itemized bill not the first thing every hospital tells you to do?
asked the hospital for an itemized bill and my $4,800 surgery cost dropped to $620
byu/architects_digest inpersonalfinance
Posted by architects_digest
2 Comments
why is asking for an itemized bill not the first thing every hospital tells you to do?
A lesson that is useful to recognize earlier than later in life…
Is that no one will have more of a vested interest in *your* financial success than *yourself*.
Educating and advocating for yourself is an important life skill
Because the hospital doesn’t care that it’s wrong. Either you call and they fix it and you’re all of the sudden happy, or you pay it without question and no one ever looks at it again.