Haggle to Lower Your Medical Bills
Haggling and doctor’s office don’t sound like they belong in the same sentence. We know how to haggle when buying a car or a house, we eventually got used to negotiating better price online for our vacations, hotels and air fare. But doctors, dentists and other medical professionals are perceived as being “above” haggling. Well, not anymore. Welcome to the new world, where patients are not afraid to ask about discounts, and doctors are more open to price negotiations.
Apparently, doctors’ offices are the places where haggling probably pays off the best. According to the recent study conducted by Consumer Reports National Research Center, only 31% of Americans ever tried to negotiate their medical bills. But out of those who tried, 93% were generously rewarded at least once.
But before you start, sit down and conduct some research of your own. Have a look at the medical treatments and procedures you had or about to have in order to find out what the costs are and how low your health care provider can possibly go. Use website as nahdo.org for getting some useful pricing information.
Once you are done with your homework, find the right person to approach. In some cases it would be the doctor himself, but in others you might get better results if you negotiate with back office and administration stuff.
To facilitate additional “price flexibility”, offer paying upfront and in cash. Lump cash payment was reported to be the most powerful incentive for the medical facilities to cut a deal, as it saves them a lot of money in financing and credit card processing fees, and billing/collecting hours, as well as eliminates cash-flow concerns.
Good news! Off-season discounts are not only for hospitality industry anymore. Getting your by-pass surgery done in the off-peak hours can result in significant price reduction as well.
Hope my little tips and tricks above help you to drastically lower your medical bills. But if the outstanding amount is still too much to handle on your own, consider turning for the professional help. Do not sit back and watch medical bills piling up to insane amounts. Inform us of your situation in the form below and one of our team members will be in touch with you shortly.
Sarah M. Kline
American Financial Assistance Advisor
