How to Deal With Medical Billing Mistakes
- 1). Request an itemized bill from the hospital billing department as soon as possible after the treatment. Discovering and disputing errors is more effective soon after the hospital administers treatment and improves your chances of receiving financial aid. Look particularly closely for double-billing errors and incorrect dates or durations of treatment. If a certain procedure looks suspiciously expensive, make a note of it and send an inquiry to the hospital billing department.
- 2). Contact the hospital from which the bills originated and the insurer that may have paid for the bills. Itemize your concerns in a letter, and keep copies of your records. Insist that any agreement that you make with the hospital be in writing.
- 3). Wait for a response from your insurer. Although insurers have a high incentive to successfully dispute medical billing errors, many are so swamped with complaints that it may take significant amounts of time to investigate your claims.
- 4). Contact a lawyer, medical billing advocate or medical fraud investigator if the hospital and your insurer don't respond to your complaints adequately. If the hospital bill goes to collection and it has errors, you are entitled to dispute the debt under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and potentially have the right to sue the hospital and collection agency.
- 5). File a complaint with the Health Care Financing Administration, particularly if any government funds were used to pay your hospital bill. Send the agency your itemized letter detailing the errors on your medical bill. It may employ investigators to examine your case and potentially pursue civil action against the hospital responsible.
