Surprised by a Medical Bill? You Should Call and Ask About It

Key Takeaways

• A recent survey found that at least 1 in 5 people have received an incorrect or unexpected medical bill.
• One in four of these people were able to get their bill corrected, while 1 in 7 were able to get a discount or go on a payment plan.
• People who called needed less than an hour on average to get the problem resolved.

The next time you get a medical bill that you can't afford or understand, you really should contact the hospital or doctor's office for help. A new study suggests there's a good chance you can get assistance if you reach out.

For the study, researchers surveyed 1,135 people and found that 1 in 5 participants had received a medical bill they disagreed with or couldn't afford. They typically had problems with bills from a doctor's office, an emergency room visit, or a trip to urgent care, according to study findings published in JAMA Health Forum .

Slightly more than 3 in 5 people who had issues with their bills contacted the provider's billing offices to address their concerns. When they did this, about 1 in 4 of them got the bill corrected, while about 1 in 7 received a discount or a payment plan.

"Many people are hesitant to pick up the phone to question the accuracy of a problematic medical bill or explore financial options, but our findings indicate it's worthwhile and typically takes less than one hour," says lead study author Erin Duffy, PhD, MPH , director of research training at the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

Billing Errors Fixed

In particular, when people reached out about billing errors, the error got fixed 74 percent of the time. Three in four people who had an unaffordable bill got some type of financial relief. And 62 percent of participants who tried to negotiate a discount got a reduced price.

Findings like this suggest that some savvy patients already know they should call and figure out the details when a bill doesn't look right, says Karan Chhabra, MD , an assistant professor of surgery and population health at New York University and NYC Health+Hospitals/Bellevue, who wasn't involved in the new study.

"The study also shows that this has a good chance of making that bill come down, or at least making it easier to digest," Dr. Chhabra says.

The study also found that the vast majority of people who didn't seek help resolving issues with their bills said they didn't think it would make a difference. People who lacked a college degree, had less familiarity with financial documents, and who were uninsured were also less likely to contact billing offices for assistance than participants who were more educated and had health benefits.

Extroverts Get Results

Introverts and people pleasers were also less likely to contact billing offices than extroverts and people with less agreeable personalities, according to the study.

"So, if someone is too shy to make the call themselves, they could enlist a friend or relative who is a disagreeable extrovert to make the call on their behalf," Duffy says.

One limitation of the study is that it was a relatively small sample size - meaning it might not be representative of how all Americans respond to issues with medical bills, or what results they get when they try to address their concerns.

Even so, the findings should encourage people to reach out to ask questions any time there's a medical bill they don't understand or can't afford, says Anupam Jena, MD, PhD , a professor of health policy at Harvard Medical School in Boston, who wasn't involved in the new study.

"Practices could do a better job of letting patients know that if there are questions about a bill, that they should actually get in touch with the provider's office," Dr. Jena says. "I'm surprised by how many people found some resolution with contacting a provider, but that is reassuring."

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Sources

1. Duffy E et al. Disparate Patient Advocacy When Facing Unaffordable and Problematic Medical Bills. JAMA Health Forum . August 30, 2024.

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Lisa Rapaport

Author

Lisa Rapaport is a journalist with more than 20 years of experience on the health beat as a writer and editor. She holds a master's degree from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and spent a year as a Knight-Wallace journalism fellow at the University of Michigan. Her work has appeared in dozens of local and national media outlets, including Reuters, Bloomberg, WNYC, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times , Scientific American , San Jose Mercury News , Oakland Tribune , Huffington Post, Yahoo! News, The Sacramento Bee , and The Buffalo News . See full bio See Our Editorial Policy Meet Our Health Expert Network