Can I negotiate my doctor bills?

Posted by Andrew Friesner

February 6, 2008

If you receive a bill for the portion your health plan did not pay or cover, or if you have no health insurance and are receiving a bill for the entire medical service or procedure, then you should begin preparing to negotiate. Less than 15% of consumers have asked their physician to negotiate their medical bill. This is an amazing number, realizing how expensive health care is these days. What is just as amazing is that your physician is probably asking you to pay the entire amount of the charge, but has probably negotiated with multiple health plans and asked them to pay at a discounted rate. Knowing this, why would you pay more than an insurance company? In fact, the most difficult part of negotiating your physician’s bill is the asking. Approximately 40% of people who ask for a discount receive one. Many medical providers and facilities, such as hospitals, have a system in place where patients who can prove that they are financially unable to pay will be offered Charity Applications and Discounts. The medical provider will either deny the Charity Discount, or grant a significant discount or complete balance write off. Discounts for Cash Pay patients without health insurance often range between 20 and 50% off of the normal charge. For those people with additional financial resources and who would not qualify for Charity Care Assistance, could still be offered smaller discounts and a payment plan to pay off the doctor’s bill over a specified period of time. Helpful Negotiating Tips

When negotiating with your physician, be tactful and courteous. If you are negotiating with a medical provider who you see frequently, you don’t want to negatively impact your relationship with this physician. If requests to the billing office don’t give you your intended result, tactfully ask your physician directly, this actually may be more effective.
Medical providers care considerably about their Cash Flow and would like to receive their payment quickly. You can negotiate with your medical provider by stating that you would pay immediately if you are offered a certain percentage discount now. This is usually effective. Medical providers know that there is risk in receiving full payment on a patient balance because many people take too long to pay or don’t pay at all. They want to work with people who are willing to pay something.
Sometimes the most effective method of receiving a discount off of your medical bill is to do a little bit of research. If you can prove that your physician bills higher than other similar providers in the area or that you are being asked to pay more than what a health plan would pay for the same service, then this could help you reduce your bill. Health Symphony has a database of Usual and Customary Charges and Medicare Allowances to help you with this third option. This information would be helpful in your negotiations because you would claim that you would like to pay the going rate for the medical procedure based on what other physicians bill in the area, and/or that you do not wish to pay more than what a normal health plan would pay.

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