Strategy for paying off medical bills

[hamchan]

My husband was in the hospital for about 4 days a month ago. As I suspected might happen we are getting a bunch of smaller bills vs. one large one. So far all we've gotten is three separate bills for various labs totaling about 450. There will certainly be more coming. Right now we have about a thousand in back taxes and credit cards that are taking massive priority, plus we need to rebuild the emergency savings which currently has 175 in it. So ideally we should be paying as little as possible on each medical bill at least long enough to pay off the taxes and CC. Do we call and set up a payment plan on each bill? Or just send in a small amount toward each one? Not sure what the best way to proceed is.

[lorraineb]

Call and talk to them and try to set up a plan. You might even be able to negotiate a discount in the process -- let them know that you want to pay, but are really strapped and need to come up with a plan that will work. And if they can help on the billing amount in any way, that would be greatly appreciated. You might not get any discounts, but if you do, that's more savings to you. It never hurts to ask.

[disneysteve]

My husband was in the hospital for about 4 days a month ago. As I suspected might happen we are getting a bunch of smaller bills vs. one large one. So far all we've gotten is three separate bills for various labs totaling about 450. There will certainly be more coming. Right now we have about a thousand in back taxes and credit cards that are taking massive priority, plus we need to rebuild the emergency savings which currently has 175 in it. So ideally we should be paying as little as possible on each medical bill at least long enough to pay off the taxes and CC. Do we call and set up a payment plan on each bill? Or just send in a small amount toward each one? Not sure what the best way to proceed is.

IRS is absolutely priority #1.
Credit cards are #2 due to the interest rate.

Regarding hospital bills, the first thing to do is to get an itemized bill, not just the statement that says, "You owe $x.xx." Get the detailed bill that spells out each and every charge so that you can make sure the bill is accurate. Most hospital bills contain errors.

Once you have determined the true amount owed, go in and speak to the billing department and explain that you can't afford the bill and ask them to reduce it. If you ask nicely and get the right person, you can usually get 30-50% knocked off right off the bat. Hospital charges are total fantasy. The numbers have no basis in actual costs to the hospital and virtually nobody actually pays those prices.

The last time my wife had surgery, I reviewed the bill and found an $1,000 error. They removed that charge and then gave me a 35% discount on the remainder without me even asking.

[hamchan]

Forgot to say, depending on the month we can expect to have a minimum of about 800 and up to 1800 a month available to put toward debts and savings. We're still playing catch up this month, so we can't pay a whole lot, but I expect July to be a higher earning month, so it's entirely feasible we could have both the taxes and CC paid off by the end of July. But rebuilding the EF will take longer.

[hamchan]

OK, that makes sense. So far the bills we have gotten for labs are itemized, and they appear to be correct, but who knows. Should we try to get those discounted as well?

[disneysteve]

OK, that makes sense. So far the bills we have gotten for labs are itemized, and they appear to be correct, but who knows. Should we try to get those discounted as well?

Definitely. Try to get everything discounted. Again, hospital charges are nonsense numbers. They don't mean anything. They aren't based on anything. They are highly negotiable. You just need to get the right person and go in there with the right attitude.

[hamchan]

Do you think they would come down on the price as well as do a payment plan? Or would we need to be able to pay it in full at that time?

[disneysteve]

Do you think they would come down on the price as well as do a payment plan? Or would we need to be able to pay it in full at that time?

All depends how flexible they feel like being. Certainly, they're probably more likely to give a discount for a lump sum payment.

[hamchan]

In that case should we call and set up a payment plan for the lowest they will go, and then make payments until we're in a better position to offer a lump sum?

[hamchan]

Or maybe we'd be better off negotiating some of these smaller bills and paying them off right now, even if that means the taxes and CC don't get paid off all the way next month.

[disneysteve]

Or maybe we'd be better off negotiating some of these smaller bills and paying them off right now, even if that means the taxes and CC don't get paid off all the way next month.

Since you are so close to getting the others paid off, that might make sense. If you could save $50 or $100 or more by doing a lump sum to the hospital, it would be worth it.

[hamchan]

OK, we could give that a try first I suppose. After paying all the bills and minimums we should have about 300 to work with for the rest of this month because all told we wound up losing about 600 in wages at the end of last month.

So what do we say? Should we just tell them we'd like to get the bill paid off but due to lost wages we are a bit strapped and were wondering if they might come down any if we paid it all today? How much is reasonable to ask for to start off with?

[hamchan]

The hospital is not working with us at all. They refuse to come down on the amount at all, and the most they will do for a payment plan is three payments. We owe just over 2000, so that is not happening. We've talked to two different people so far and are getting nowhere.

[kv968]

Definitely. Try to get everything discounted. Again, hospital charges are nonsense numbers. They don't mean anything. They aren't based on anything. They are highly negotiable. You just need to get the right person and go in there with the right attitude.

Sounds like going to the hospital and buying a car is about the same process (if not worse).

No wonder why our healthcare system is so messed up.

[disneysteve]

Sounds like going to the hospital and buying a car is about the same process (if not worse).

No wonder why our healthcare system is so messed up.

TIME magazine did a special report a month or so ago on the healthcare system. It is probably one of the best articles ever written on the topic. If you are interested, head over to the library and find the issue and read it. It is very eye-opening. I've been in the medical field for over 20 years and I learned a lot about what goes on from the business end of things from that issue.