I have an MRI scheduled at the hospital and they reached out to let me know that the price is $4,000 and because I haven't met any of my deductible (high deductible plan) I'm on the hook for the $4,000

Option 2 is self pay for $900!

I plan on doing option 1 and they can shove the bill where the sun don't shine.

I'll offer the collections company the $900 self pay price.

Just a bit worried that it will hit my credit. (Not super worried because I already own a home and no cc debt)

My 4 year old child had a small ear tag—just skin, no bone—which was removed in a clinic visit. It took less than one minute: one cut and one band-aid. I had an initial consultation (a seperated visit) prior to this procedure and already paid couple hundreds. However, the bill for this one-minute clinic visit came to $2,000, of which I am responsible for $1,100 due to my high-deductible health plan.

Does this seem like a reasonable charge for such a simple procedure? Should I try to negotiate the bill, or is there anything else I can do to address this? Thanks a lot!

Went in after I got rear ended to get checked out. They saw me right away (they were empty) and did an xray. Doc came in and said “well nothing is broken so you can go”. Very dismissive as a side note. Prescribed ibuprofen and sent me walking. The whole ordeal was maybe 45 min with alot of alone time. BILL $24,100. Of course this was all run through my State Farm insurance of which I was told I had 10k in PIP. They paid the er the full 10k and now I’m on the hook for the rest of my mri’s and Chiro treatment that was supposed to be covered. Is this normal????? 24k for a 45 min stupid visit?? What do I do.

I recently took my child to a hospital for surgery that she really needed. I knew ahead of time what percentage my copay would be (10% of the allowable rate).

The lady who checked us in said I had to pay $3500. I was like, nah that doesn’t sound right. I asked why can’t they just bill insurance and then send me a bill. She said it was an “estimate”

I mean how can they know what supplies are gonna be used in surgery and how long my child will be there. The $3500 didn’t sound right at all.

I said, I don’t have $3500 today. So I was pretty much forced to take out a line of credit thru the hospital care credit type thing. (I’m sure the hospital gets a fee anytime someone opens an account) If I didn’t pay the money, my child wouldn’t get to have her much needed outpatient surgery.

So reluctantly i had to apply for credit and pay the money.

I am so angry. How can they get away with this?? I know that’s not gonna be my amount due. I’m an 100 percent sure of that.

So I know they will owe me money. I’ve had this happen before. I’ve overpaid for a medical service and my actual amount owed was less, and they don’t refund the difference. I have to go thru hoops just to get my money back.

Does this happen to anyone else? Do I have any recourse? I mean, how do I avoid having to go thru this again ?

Is this the norm now? You have to pay and “estimate” for surgery and then hope you get your money back. 🤬

Edited to add: we have Aetna MHBP (Mail Handlers Benefit Plan thru the federal government)

I have a large bill from a hospital that I am presently completely incapable of paying. I have called them twice now, been directed to the person who is supposed to help me, and it goes to voicemail, I explained everything, and done. I have gotten zero response. Honestly, while I'm technically indebted, there's been like, nothing. No phone calls, no extra pestering. Just letters in the mail saying "SEND US MONEY!!! please", a huge bill i cant pay, and an envelope to send checks or physical cash maybe??? I dont even know what im supposed to do. When I bring it up with my family, my mom said to document every time I've contacted them. Others said my credit score will plummet, which. Ok? I dont even know what it is. I dont have a credit card. Credit score is functionally meaningless to me. Lord knows i wont ve using it to apply to anything right now JAJA. Anyways, if anyone has like. Any idea on what is going on, I'd appreciate any possible insight.

Had an abdominal CT scan done recently. Estimate was only about $130 and now I’m owing close to $400. I was looking over mychart bill and noticed that I was charged almost 2k for two bottles of Breeza before the scan. This wasn’t a contrast drink (IV contrast was another separate charge). I’ve had many medical bills over the last few years and this seems even more inflated than normal. Even the CT scan itself was around $1,200. Insurance only allowed $1400 but I still think for two drinks this doesn’t seem right. Was wondering if anyone else knew if this was normal or maybe I need to reach out to insurance? Thank you for any help.

I feel like I'm going crazy here. Explaining is too long, let me sum up.

Husband went to two appointments with new provider. We checked before, was listed on our insurance portal as in-network. When I got EOB, processed as OON. Called insurance (three times) & finally got them to reprocess as in-network. Just got new EOB's & now we owe $650 more than the out-of-network cost.

I have spent an hour on the phone today between insurance & the clinic. Both are saying I need to speak with the other. Do I just escalate this or is there a specific department I need to ask for?

So I had a bill sent to me for say 700 bucks, I applied for financial assistance they approved it, sent me letters, it was a whole 2 month thing. I call them and the final decision is you are approved but the financial aid does not cover my bill.

So my question should I just have them send it to collections then when the collections agency calls just negotiate with them? I tried negotiating with the hospital but they are a hard firm payment plan for the whole bill or pay in full.

As a Senior Citizen on Medicare who is currently getting lots of tests in advance of Heart Surgery, I am shocked every time I get a notice from Medicare and my Medicare Supplement.

For a typical medical test or procedure, they bill thousands of dollars. However, the Medicare-approved amount is only about one-third of the billed retail amount. Does a person who does not have insurance but has the means to pay pay the full retail amount? Who pays retail?

Under the rules of Medicare, the doctor or hospital has to accept the Medicare-approved amount.

What percent of the retail amount for a medical test or procedure is paid by Medicaid or Private Health Insurance?

Several months ago, my doctor recommended a shot for an issue related to a neurological condition. Long story short, and the cost would be approximately $250. Did the shot, it did not help. Reluctantly paid $250.

Doctor recommended a follow-up shot, stating that another shot might be more effective. Though I assumed that the cost would be approximately $250 again, I requested an estimate again, through the hospital messaging system. They said to call a department. Since I could not reach a live person , I called a different staff member that I had spoken to regarding the previous shot. They believed that the cost would be the same as it was the same procedure. Did the shot, it did not work again. This time, however, the bill was close to $1700.

Despite messages and multiple calls to their billing department explaining the situation, they will not budge. They claim that the estimate originally received, includes a statement that cost could be anything - which I found completely unfair. I felt I did my due diligence in trying to make an informed decision my health care and was prepared to pay approximately $250, though I was very reluctant because it had not worked previously. But the $1700 bill is shocking, and if I knew it was going to be anywhere near that range, I would notbhave gotten it at all.

I have insurance (bill is after insurance), and I could pay - but I feel this bill was misleading and dishonest. They are threatening collections at this point. Is there a higher authority I can report this to?

My estimate is $374 and im a broke 18 yr old college student. I need this appointment cause of serious gastro issues and i already prepaid that money. Is it possible to get some of it back by talking to my insurance or doctors? I use blue cross blue shield (sadly) and the appt's with Baylor Medicine.

For future gastro appointments/labs, how can i pay less?

edit: this place was in network and the closest

I went to a clinic after a routine check up. I had strep a week or two before, and wanted to make sure I didn't have any other issues. I decided to get a swab for yeast infection just in case, as my meds for strep can typically cause one.

It came back negative, all was good. A few weeks later, I get a bill for $150 for the swab. I saw the breakdown and it said it was swabbed for 3 different cultures, $50 each, balancing to about $150 total. I only asked for a yeast infection swab.

I called them, they told me this was not going to be covered by insurance because my insurance did not cover until I hit a certain amount. I said it's not fair to pay for 3 seperate things when I asked only for one. Even then, $50 is excessive for one basic swab. They said that that's how their clinic does it, and I couldn't even only do one even if I wanted to.

After that, I am so frustrated, so I'm refusing to pay the bill that is clearly a marked up bill for insurance. Do you think this will affect me? Even if the total is under $500?

My MRI bill pending. This was an MRI of my pelvis with and without contrast. This was a non-emergency, scheduled imaging study. I needed this to evaluate some fibroids, and it turns out I have well over 7 fibroids inside and outside of my uterus. My deductible was met after my ultrasound so my only out of pocket expense for that was $150. It did take a week to get authorization from payor and they sent me a copy of their auth (just in case I need to fight them).

I had a CT scan done about a year ago for a health scare and at the time I had a bad health insurance plan. They charged me something like $100 up front and I've never heard from them since. They didn't tell me anything about further billing nor did I receive any further communication. I received an email this afternoon asking for ~$1100 for the service and I'm honestly lost with how to deal with this. Is this normal?

Long story short, I had a medical consultation in October 2024 and didn't pay the bill, which amounted to about $650. I recently started getting communications from a debt collector, who now wants to charge me closer to to $700, as they are charging the original bill value plus with interest. Given this, my questions are

• When would this begin to affect my credit score? For context I live in and had this consultation in California. I received first communication in July from the debt collector. While the original bill was one $650 bill, I noticed that the debt collector sent one mail with 3 separate bill claims, each with a unique case number and each less that $500 but collectively added to the original bill plus more due to interest. Would these even affect my credit score since they are each less than $500 then?
• What is the correct next step for me to take? Do I respond directly to the mail I have received to dispute the debt, or do I compose my own letter and send to the debt collector's address? If the value of the bills won't affect by credit score, do I bother responding then?

I appreciate any help in this situation, thank you!

Hello…Can someone assist with my medical debt question?

I received a letter from a creditor about a medical debt for my minor child for 2024. She had the same surgery twice (2022 and 2024)…Each time I paid half of the deductible before the surgery and nothing else after.

I sent a debt validation letter a couple weeks ago got this last surgery in which they sent the itemized bill (2024) from the hospital.

The problem is, my payment is not included.

Before the surgery, I received an email from their system stating what I needed to pay before the surgery. I made the payment online, in which I have found proof through my receipt and HSA account payment.

Just thinking about it….It is possible that it went toward my previous debt for the same procedure or another medical bill of hers…I’m not really sure.

The bill is more as they state it’s their fee in addition to the bill (total $3666)

What would be my next steps? Is there a website that shows the steps that I should follow or can someone explain to me what I need to do now? What letter or correspondence/communication is next?

I attempted to find information online but don’t see anything about this scenario.

Just to clarify…My payment is not reflected on the ledger of payments. There is about $400 added as their fee, I assume…It’s included in the total amount owed that they sent on their letter. I paid $1600 before the surgery.

Also I am looking to purchase a home soon (in couple months). This debt is not on my credit report. What do I need to do to not have this effect my credit.

Please help!!!!

This is from earlier in the month, just saw it today. I live in Massachusetts btw. Definitely not listening to anyone when they say I should go to a hospital for simple things like this. My urgent care actually said they couldn’t do an x-ray, yet they have more than one. Makes me feel manipulated. My autism could have got in the way of seeing the right path. Do you think its too high? Should my insurance covered more?

Hi all,

Forgive me, as I am having trouble wrapping my head around this one. I am covered by Anthem Blue Shield and went to Mount Sinai in NYC to have my leg looked at from a knee injury. Two visits. Each time they charged me $75 at the physician's office and said that's all I would need to cover and Anthem would do the rest. A few weeks later and I am now getting billed an additional $360 per visit. I called Mount Sinai and they said this is an "outpatient facility charge" which is separate from the physician's office charge. Is this normal? I was under the impression my insurance would cover the rest of my visit. If anyone recognizes this and can clear it up for me I would gladly appreciate it! (screenshot of the bill summary is attached).

I had surgery last Sep. 16th and this was the bill. As you can see the account number for the surgery ends with 7150. The other service that I was given by the same hospital has another account number. I took care of this bill.

After 7 months, I received another bill for the same service, which is nonsense to me. Please see the picture below:

I am so confused. Can anybody help me? Or is there anyone who had a similar situation?

Hi everyone, I was wondering if this seems kind of extreme. I had to have a medical practitioner sign some paperwork to confirm that I've had my vaccinations and a TB test. So I called to make an appointment at the hospital I get my annual checks at to have them signed, assuming that it would just be something quick (maybe this is where I messed up). At the appointment, a nurse took my weight and blood pressure and left, and then the doctor came and I told him I just needed some papers signed. He took them and went back to his office and came back to tell me I needed to get a different type of TB test. He then sent me to get the test downstairs in the labwork area, and said he would sign the papers in the new few days and I could come back to pick them up.

That was a few weeks ago, and I just got a bill saying I was charged $252 for the TB test and $227 for the appointment (code 99213). Can I argue this, and who would I bring it up to?

Any ideas?

Hey everyone, fisrt time here, I'm 19y and I need some help. I opened up a tatto and lash business, i need around 400€ monthly to keep the store open, somehow i was able to do that money and it's been open for 6 months now. Unfortunately i now have to pay 350€ in medical support (neurological consult and exams)

I can't find a job, i don't have clients, i need help. I don't want money i want ideias, please, I'll really appreciate any ideias u have.

My daughter got an MRI last month and had to be anesthetized because she’s still a toddler. We received a bill for $800 in the mail this week. We have full coverage through my healthcare through my employer(UMR).

Do we need to call the hospital and ask for an explanation or should we just dispute it out right? Is it likely that we just owe this? Is this the place for these questions? I don’t know but my wife told me to ask Reddit for their opinion.

Please help!!