r/HospitalBills • u/Versatilitee • 3d ago

Help! Can someone explain what I should do.

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I recently payed a visit to the emergency room as my face had swollen up from a tooth abscess and I was scared of going septic. I was brought into a room, sat in a chair, had my vitals checked, prescribed an antibiotic and released. I am uninsured and received my bill. Which I’ve attached. I asked for an itemized receipt and this is what I’m getting.

Can someone please tell me why it’s $2000 for a vital check and a prescription? Is there anything I can do to get this lowered since I’m self pay? I’m really just trying to gauge my options here as I don’t want this sent to collections and will pay what I have to but this seems outrageous for what was done.

Thanks in advance

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u/Bitter-Breath-9743 3d ago

Is that on top of the uninsured discount they already gave them?

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u/punkrockyuppie 3d ago

Typically, yes. Often providers know when dealing with self-pay (uninsured) patients, the standard billing rates they use would be too high for the patient to feasibly pay. So the self-pay discount reflected in OP's screenshot is likely a courtesy discount unrelated to specific income information or financial assistance.

This is why it's worthwhile for OP to check their MyChart or call the billing department to apply for the financial assistance. It's possible this facility won't offer anything additional, but based on the website recommended and my own digging, it does look like they should stack. My fingers are crossed for OP to get this down to a more manageable bill!

Source: have worked in healthcare/health insurance for 10 years.