Insurance

Nobody really checks medical bills and even if families do, it's not nearly enough. The US Government Accountability Office says that 9 in 10 hospital bills have erroneous data. If that's true (and there's no reason to believe it isn't), then the margin of error is too great. It's difficult to suggest malice on the part of the hospitals but whatever the intention is, the inefficiency in the system is a cause for alarm. The onus is still on the family to take the time to review their papers and seek medical bills help immediately after finding a misplaced entry.

The EOB (explanation of benefits) sent by your insurance company in the mail does not say much so you need to demand for an unbundled and itemized bill. In that way, you can keep track of all the procedures, laboratory tests, medicines, nurse and room rates, or any syringe they stuck n you. Looking at all the entries will determine if there were redundant or erroneous postings.

Once you spot a mistake, ask for a copy of the ledger from the hospital's billing department or your medical chart to make sure what your doctor ordered was actually followed by the hospital. You can actually seek medical bills help from your insurance provider who is only too willing to go over your records. It's also in your health care servicer's interest to review your medical bill to prevent their company from overpaying the hospital.

You should also review the manual to find out your insurance coverage. Cross check the EOB statement with your health policy and make sure all the "covered" procedures are paid for.

It helps to ask for a conference call with your billing department and the hospital's billing department so all of you can work together to discuss each of the items in the document.

If you don't think you can do it alone, seek medical help from a professional. There are individuals who make it their business to review hospital bills. They can decrypt all the codes in the bill and make a determination to the accuracy of the bill. With the statistics stacked against you, it's too much to hope that you are one of the 10 who is billed correctly by the hospital.