I recently saw a study stating that 97% of hospital bills are wrong. And these errors are almost never in favor of the patient. The average error, at least in this study, was almost $ 1,500. Just think about it for a minute ... almost every bill is paid off for $ 1,500! This is incredible!
I'm not the kind of person who listens to research or statistics, because I think you can find a study to prove anything and statistics to prove something. But in this case, even if you do not agree with the exact numbers in the study, anyone who was in the hospital knows that payment errors are quite frequent and can be quite large.
So what do you do if you find that you are overpaid? The first thing you want to do is make an appointment to talk face-to-face with the actual doctor who worked for you. Your first instinct will be to contact the hospital administrative staff or the billing department. But this is the last thing you want to do, because, as a rule, they have no idea what services you received, only a doctor can talk to these problems.
You may be crazy, but do not go to the meeting angry. Be calm, be polite and be frank. Try to act with a little cooperation and try to keep angry charges to zero if at all possible. Doctors get sued all the time, and that makes them very careful. Do not enter the blinking of pistols, throwing words like lawsuits or negligence, because this will close the doctors' communication lines. They will not even discuss it with you, they will simply hand it over to your lawyer if you accept this approach.
Instead, go to the meeting as if you made a good-natured mistake. Review the charges on your bill, and your doctor will ask them to go through the line and explain it. Your doctor should be ready to do this, but if they simply do not budge and they are not open to discussion or negotiation, then you should take the next step ...
The next thing you want to do is to contact your local or regional medical or dental community in writing. Sometimes these organizations can create arbitration between you and the doctor, which can save you costly legal fees if you have to sue them. Keep in mind one important thing, the work of the Medical and Dental Society for doctors is not you. They may be interested in “help” if he keeps doctors out of court, but they are more focused on this than actually helping you.
If nothing works, you may have to sue. Small claims court is a good place for this kind of fees. You can file a lawsuit with small claims without a lawyer. Basically, you and the doctor just go in front of the judge and state your case in ordinary language. If the doctor cannot quantify the charges on your bill, the judge can throw them away.
Regardless, assert your rights. Just because they are a doctor, they do not give them the right to use you. Be polite, but be firm and everything will be fine.
