healthcare costs
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Choosing Between Care and Commodities
This is a situation that one of our employees is currently experiencing here at Medical Billing Advocates of America. Even with health insurance, many Americans are facing a difficult problem when it comes to healthcare: choosing between care and commodities. I recently starting having unusual symptoms that sent me to my general practitioner. After answering…
Real Life Medical Bill Stories: Preventing Out-of-Network Charges
In a recent blog post, I shared an experience I had with a local hospital who wanted a lump sum of money up front for services that had yet to be rendered when I had a health insurance plan that covered the procedure at 100%. Here, I will share more of that same experience with…
Real Life Medical Bill Stories: Paying Before Receiving Care
I have been fortunate enough to be armed with vital knowledge through Medical Billing Advocates of America of how to protect myself from erroneous charges and unreasonable prices on my medical bills. Last week, I found myself in an increasingly common situation in which everyone in the U.S. should be aware of. This particular occurrence…
Exorbitant Out-of-Network Charges Detailed in New Report
It seems that every week, the media reports more instances of patients being billed an exorbitant amount by an out-of-network provider, which likely came via a surprise medical bill. Far and wide, out-of-network providers are seemingly billing any amount they wish for their services. AHIP – America’s Health Insurance Plans – put out a report…
Cost Variances for Healthcare Procedures
Costs for medical procedures and services vary widely across the country. A recent study conducted by Castlight Health, Inc. sheds light on cost variances for healthcare procedures in different cities across the country. In this study, the 30 most populous cities were scrutinized for what some healthcare facilities charged for some common procedures and services. Middle-aged…
Negotiate Your Healthcare Costs Ahead of Time
We encourage all consumers to share your stories of inaccurate charges and unfair pricing on your medical bills so that we can share them anonymously with other consumers. Doing so has a two-fold effect: it helps others to see that they are not alone when they have been charged outrageous prices by a healthcare facility…
Helpful Hints for Scrutinizing your Hospital Bills
Medical Billing Advocates of America has seen a lot of abusive billing practices in the healthcare industry in the past 20 years. From charges for teddy bears and boxes of tissues to double and even triple billing, the advocates at MBAA know what to look for when scrutinizing your hospital bills. The first important thing…
Take Control of Your Prescription Drug Costs
What if a cure for a life-threatening disease was within your reach, as long as you could afford the hefty price tag? The famous political and consumer activist Ralph Nader referred to prescription drug costs as “pay-or-die drug prices” in a 2014 article. This might sound harsh to many, but when you think about it,…