Debt Relief Solutions for Medical Debt- Part Four

Welcome to the fourth article in the four part series about medical billing errors. This information is provided so that patients can keep their medical providers accountable for the charges on their bills and often reduce what they owe. Before medical debt relief is sought, a thorough check of medical bills needs to be performed.

Here is the final part of the list of common medical errors in billing:

12. Profit driven motives are a large problem among non-profit hospitals. Even though they aren't for profit, they will charge you more than they should simply to make a few dollars. You can often argue for rate reductions in this situation, but only if the hospital turned a big profit in the year that you were treated. Check out online resources like the American Hospital Directory to find out how much your provider profited.

13. Wasteful practices. Cleanliness and sanitation is key in any medical environment, but not to a point that is wasteful. When materials and instruments can be used further or reused and they are thrown out, you should not be paying for those materials in your bills.

14. Paying more just because you lack insurance. What might cost the insurance company $500 could cost a patient without insurance $700 or more, simply because they don't have insurance. Hospitals work with insurance companies to keep their costs low, but you should not be paying more simply because you are uninsured. You can challenge your medical bills for discrimination in this case.

15. Infection caused by providers. On average, there are a small percentage of patients that get an infection while they are in the hospital. If you did not have the infection when you arrived or it was not caused by your particular ailment, you should not have to pay for the treatment of that infection. Average costs for hospital stays due to infection are about $800 a day. Most people spend about 3-4 extra days in the hospital for infections, which is a $3000+ charge that is not necessary. If you have been a victim of infection during your stay and were charged for the extra days, you can fight the charges that you are being faced with because they are not yours to pay.

These are the most common errors in medical billing, but too often many people don't bother learning about their charges or reading through their bills. If you are faced with medical debt beyond your capability to pay, you need to get itemized bills and ensure that there are no errors before you seek medical debt relief solutions.

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