http://www.mint.com/blog/how-to/medical-billing-errors-05042011/“Getting overcharged on a medical bill? Won’t happen to me.” Sure it’s easy to ignore, but with eight out of 10 medical bills containing errors (according to Medical Billing Advocates of America), the odds are really stacked against you. You are getting inaccurate bills, and if you haven’t yet, you likely will.
On top of this, hospitals are getting more aggressive and waste little time sending people to collections or filing liens against them for outstanding medical bills. The Federal Reserve reported in December that medical bills account for over half of all debts in collection. If that happens, your credit score could be hurt.
Also, did you know there is a lifetime cap on most insurance plans? It is often limited to $500,000 – $1 million per person, which sounds hefty enough, however continuous treatment in a hospital for several days can pile into hundreds of thousands of dollars, quickly eating through this limit.
To protect your health and your wallet, here are four steps to identify medical billing errors, and three steps to fight them:
More at the link --