A medical bill looks different from a credit card or any other bill you may receive. This difference is what makes it difficult for you to decode the bill and determine whether or not you are responsible for the bill. Most medical bills contain information that can help you identify what the bill/services were for, who the patient is, the charges for the service, which provider the patient saw and the amount due.
Instructions
1. Determine who provided the service to you. This could be the physician who saw you in the office, the hospital you were admitted to, or the laboratory or diagnostic radiology center that provided the services to you.
2. Identify the person who saw the care provider. This could be the holder of the health insurance or could be the actual patient who saw the care provider.
3. Note the type of care provided to you on the date of service listed on the bill. In addition, this field will identify the name of the service you received on that particular day, e.g., office visit, x-ray, surgery, etc.
4. The amount the provider of care charged you for the visit is listed on the bill. On a physician's bill the amount of each service, supply and procedure is listed with the corresponding amount. On a hospital bill, each service, supply, and procedure amount is not listed; the hospital will just provide a summary of the services you received in the hospital. This type of billing makes it impossible to determine if you were charged inappropriately or not. To determine if you were charged correctly, call the hospital billing company and ask for an itemized bill.
5. The balance due is the amount the care provider is requesting you to pay. The balance should be the amount of the charge minus the insurance payment (provided on the bill or your explanation of benefits from the health insurance carrier), minus the non-covered amount, minus your co-pay.
Tags: care provider, determine were, determine were charged, each service, each service supply, health insurance, listed bill