Using Medical Bill Negotiation Services to Lower Your Bills

You got into an accident and racked up a mountain of medical bills. Maybe you have insurance, maybe you don’t. Either way, you are staring at a medical bill that would be sufficient to feed a small family for the immediate future. Perhaps you even took the initiative and tried contesting the some of the claims yourself (if applicable). Regardless, now the bill collectors are calling and things are not looking good.

I want you to know that you still have options.

One of the best things you can do is to hire a medical negotiation service. These services work directly with your doctors to reduce your medical bills. Most will usually take their pay as a % of the amount they saved you.

How these negotiation services work

One thing you have to realize, is that medical bills are absolutely negotiable! There are thousands of insurance plans throughout the US and each of them has their own agreement with the providers in their network. The amount one insurance plan/company will pay one provider could be drastically different than what another would pay. Providers are willing to accept these lower prices for their services, partly because the insurance plans have enough klout to drive a hard bargain, and partly because there are wide margins built into the billed price that patients see.

When to use a negotiating service?

It doesn’t make much sense to try in lower your $50 or $100 bill, but any bill larger than around $250 would probably be appropriate for negotiation. This amount might vary, depending on the service you used. It doesn’t matter if it is covered by insurance, although you will have more success if the amount is not covered by insurance, or at least, not already reduced by your insurance.

Why don’t I just negotiate the bill myself and save even more?

You can absolutely do this, but it is going to take work. You will need to find out what the fair and customary rates in your area are for the services on your bill. One site that can help you obtain fair rates is healthcarebluebook.com. Unless you have some experience negotiating and possibly some medical background you are probably better off leaving the negotiating to the experts.

No harm in trying!

Depending on your bills, using a negotiation service could save you a heck of a lot of money! Worst case scenario, you are back where you started. Don’t worry about offending you doctor, these services are usually very professional and approach your doctor in a respectful manner.

One negotiation service that I recommend is My Medical Negotiator. They have been at it since 2007 and have saved their clients millions of dollars through the years. Their standard rate is 35% of the amount of money they save you. I am currently working on partnering up with them to offer my readers a special reduced rate. I will update once things are worked out.

Remember, most of these services only take payment if they save you money. You don’t lose anything by trying one of them out!