10. Try to trim big bills.
When you receive medical bills, look up the CPT (current procedural terminology) codes listed on a website such as Coder.AAPC.com. (If you don’t see codes listed, ask the provider for an itemized bill—you have a right to see them.) If some codes do not seem to correspond to treatments you received, call the provider and question them—billing errors are common.
If your insurer does not cover as much of a bill as you believe it should, file an appeal. Details about filing these appeals can be found in the resources section of the Patient Advocate Foundation’s website. If the insurer argues that a procedure was not medically necessary, ask your doctor to provide a letter explaining why it was necessary and include this with your appeal.
If you have hospital bills you cannot afford, ask a hospital’s financial counselor whether the facility has a financial assistance program and, if so, how you can apply. If all else fails, tell the provider that you cannot possibly afford all your medical bills and try to use this as leverage to negotiate a lower price. Or hire a medical billing advocate to tackle these bill-trimming strategies for you.
