My insurer’s Explanation of Benefits (EOB) showed a claim for a flu shot. That was accurate. But another EOB claimed that I got exactly the same flu shot (again) two weeks later. That was not accurate. My insurer paid both of them, and since they cover 100 percent of the cost of flu shots, I didn’t get a bill for either one.
But I don’t want my insurance company to pay for services I didn’t receive. When I asked my doctor’s office to check these claims by comparing their medical records for me to their billing, the mistake was quickly addressed.
This example and more troublesome ones described in other columns in this series reveal three keys point: first, medical bills often have mistakes in them. Second, the errors typically (but not always) involve overcharges. Third, keeping your own records of services received and payments made can help you catch billing mistakes.
We expect financial accounts to be correct. We assume that the electricity bill is accurate. We believe that the total displayed on the pump at the gas station is correct. At the grocery store, we take it for granted that we aren’t being charged for three items we didn’t buy. We consider it a given that Amazon.com charges us – once – for items we purchase. We assume that the credit card company credits our payments to our account.
We subconsciously believe that medical bills follow the same pattern. They look so official! They’re generated by a computer! But the reality is closer to GIGO, “garbage in, garbage out,” a term invented in the computer industry 50 years ago to explain what happens when the data given to the computer are wrong.
You will spend less money on health care if you assume that there isn’t necessarily a direct connection between the health care services you receive and the bills you get. Unless you have money to burn, consider keeping two kinds of records. The first logs the care you got, listing the date, the name of the doctor/hospital/lab, and the test/treatment/prescription received.
The second record logs bills paid, showing the date of the bill, the name of the person/organization billing you, the dates of service included, the type of service(s) received, the amount charged, the date you paid, how you paid (check number or credit card, for example), and the amount you paid.
When a bill arrives, confirm that it reflects services that your first list shows you received. Then (after confirming that your insurer says that you are responsible for the amount billed) verify, by checking your list of payments, that you haven’t already paid the bill.
Following these steps can help you pay what you actually owe – no more, no less.
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Photo courtesy of: Medical Coding News
Originally Published On: dcourier.com
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