Four Ways To Get Your Hospital Bill Reduced

Nearly one in three Americans received a surprise medical bill over the past two years for hospital procedures and healthcare services they believed their insurance policy would cover.

That’s the key finding of a new national survey by Consumer Reports that also found most Americans are so confused about their rights to contest an unexpected health bill that more than half (57 percent) simply pay the bill in full.

“For years we have heard horror stories from consumers hit with surprise medical bills following routine and emergency procedures,” said DeAnn Friedholm, director of the policy and advocacy arm of Consumer Reports.

“Even if you go to a hospital in your network, the unfortunate truth is that there is no guarantee that all your treatment — whether it’s the radiologist, anesthesiologist, or lab work — will be treated as in-network, leaving patients owing thousands of dollars they never anticipated.”

But experts note a handful of negotiating tricks can almost always get you a reduced bill. In fact, a secondConsumer Reports survey found that a whopping 93 percent of people who haggled over medical bills were successful in cutting their final costs.

Here are four tried-and-true negotiation strategies: