Hospital or medical bill forgiveness from negotiating medical bills

Program Overview

Negotiate for medical or hospital bill forgiveness. Hospitals, doctors, dentists and healthcare providers provide medical as well as hospital bill forgiveness programs to low-income families.

There is assistance for low-income families, people with no money or that lack insurance or that are on Medicaid and others. Find how to negotiate in order to get a hospital or medical bill forgiven below or to get a discount. Financial assistance is provided by most hospitals or medical offices as part of their charity care programs.

Patients do need to inquire and ask though, and learn the steps to take to negotiate both medical expenses and hospital bills. Also note that in general only low income and/or struggling families will get the ability to enter into hospital bill forgiveness hardship programs.

What follows are tips to help you negotiate to lower your bills. What is a medical bill negotiation?: While medical debt forgiveness or relief is only for some low-income or prior patients, anyone can negotiate a medical bill to ask for a discount or relief. It does not take any experience to do this.

It is not just insurance companies that can negotiate health care or hospital costs or say the price of a surgery. People just need to be willing to ask for medical bill forgiveness plans and maybe enter into negotiations with their medical provider. While many people find it common to negotiate with a car salesperson or a real estate agent, who you will probably never see again after the sale, it is not as common, and arguably more awkward, to negotiate with a doctor, surgeon or medical professional.

There may be many reasons for this. Most patients trust their provider to make you well and provide ongoing health care for your family. That is why some people turn to a professional, such as a negotiator or some other third party to get hospital bills forgiven. How to get hospital bill or medical debt forgiveness: Know what the treatment you need really costs -: To begin a discussion with a healthcare provider about the cost of the treatment that you need, you need to know what a reasonable figure for the medical treatment looks like.

You can start with your health insurance company's website. Most carriers publish their negotiated rates for hospital, doctors, and other provides. Or look into the websites that bring transparency to medical care or hospital services . It can also help to look at the websites of services such as: Healthcare Bluebook and: New Choice Health .

They publish the prices quoted for dozens of different treatments, surgery and care options. It does this by different hospitals in every part of the country. You can find out how much local hospitals and medical practitioners charge, and what kind of discount insurance companies receive on those rates.

You can negotiate much more effectively with your healthcare provider to get hospital debt forgiveness when you have a number to start with. Find more on determining price of medical treatment Say the right things when asking for a discount or forgiveness plan -: Once you obtain reference pricing information from pricing websites, you need to talk to the person at the hospital or doctor’s office who is in charge of patient accounts or billing.

You need to negotiate with them before you receive treatment. All you need to do is to tell them that you are unable to afford their prices, and would appreciate a discount on your medical treatment(s). If you have additional reasons why the hospital should cut you a break, you should mention them. Ask for charity care or medical bill relief.

It could be that your insurance provider has denied you coverage for the treatment you need, that you've recently lost your job, or that you've simply heard great things about a certain doctor, and would like to be able to have them treat you if you could only afford it. Often, if you've had health insurance (whether a private or government policy) for a long time, but have recently lost your coverage, you can explain the situation to the person in charge of billing and payment plans at the hospital.

Negotiate and ask them if they would consider giving you the same rate that you got when you had coverage. In some cases, hospitals have financial assistance or charity programs to pay for surgery, prescription drugs, or other medical treatments.

While these are usually for people who struggle with poverty, you may try to ask for these or negotiate for them in order to qualify if you have unusually large medical bills for your salary. Ask for discounts on hospital or medical bills if you prepay a portion of it , or maybe even the entire bill, up front.

Healthcare consultants say that most medical professionals will knock 5 or 10 percent, or more, off your bill if you pay up front as it helps them with their cash flow. It also helps reduce the costs incurred by the provider in collections as well as administration of the account.

If you do not have health insurance, you can get significantly bigger discounts on your medical bills and hospital stay expenses or other treatment if you ask for a price break or charity medical care up front . Studies show that in general, patients can save at minimum 50% for procedures that hospitals, dentists and doctors bill to health insurance plans.

How and why is this? It is because medical practitioners and doctors are used to getting paid less than full price from those health insurance companies. This is even applicable to low income families that are enrolled in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). So the reason you can save 50% or more is that the discounted rate that medical professionals give a patient on their bills is still far better than what an insurance company is paying them for the service.

Learn what medical professionals typically bill for their services and how much insurers will reimburse them at Patient Advocate Foundation . If you know the cost, you can negotiate the price before you see the doctor. You need to ask for a price break before the medical procedure , not after the bill comes in.

Indicate you are low income or struggle, and you that fact as a negotiating tactic. Many doctors, hospital billing offices or surgeons may offer a discount on the fee, as they want to get paid some money from a low-income family. However this type of negotiation needs to be done before the surgery or health care services are provided to the patient.

Ask for outpatient treatment -: Some types of surgery come with the requirement that you stay in hospital. These options are cheaper and are more likely to be waived over time. With others, like knee surgery, you have the option of getting surgery done at the outpatient center or clinic. You can save thousands of dollars simply by opting to get your surgery done as an outpatient and skipping the hospital room.

Ask for a major discount on your medical bills in return for immediate payment - If you've already been treated, and have just received large bills, you can call the billing department and start with a bold request. You can offer, for instance, to pay 40 percent of the bill immediately, if they will write off the res and if the hospital has debt forgiveness for the balance.

If the hospital rejects your offer, they may still come up with an attractive offer of their own. If you are offered nothing more than a 20 percent discount, you can ask to talk to a higher authority, like the customer service manager, billing team supervisor, or vice president of finance. Each person that you call should get to hear your story so that they can relate to why you need help.

If they make a promise to help you, you want to make sure that you have their name and title, and ask if you can get their offer in writing. Ask for a payment plan on medical bills or debts -: If the bill that you're left with after all the negotiations is still too large for you to manage, you can ask the hospital or doctor office if they will put you on a plan where you pay a fixed installment each month to get the balance of the hospital bill written off.

When you get on an installment plan, you can call them after a few months, and ask them if they would mind forgiving the rest of your bill in light of the fact that you've been regular with your payments. Receive your health insurer's approval - After you have settled on a hospital or doctor or clinic to use, if you have health insurance be sure to contact your insurer to get pre-approval for the medical care that you need.

If you do not do this the insurer will probably refuse to pay the bill and the patient’s ability to negotiate a discount is limited. Also, be sure to as at that time how much your insurer will cover. Some billing experts and medical advocates will strongly recommend that you have your doctor detail both the procedure you need as well as any pre- and post-care follow up that you may need, in writing, so that you can present this to the health insurer.

You should always keep records for your file as well, along with copies of bills and all other communication as an issue may arise at a later date. Call in a professional negotiator to get a hospital bill forgiveness plan -: If the hospital doesn't seem open to negotiating with you, you can contact a professional medical billing advocate, attorney, or use a thirst party provider.

Low-income families can often get free negotiating from a volunteer lawyer. Organizations such as Mediliminal help patients negotiate with their hospitals in return for a percentage of the savings achieved.

The fact is that some people just will never feel comfortable in taking this

Who Can Apply

• Low-income individuals and families meeting income guidelines
• Participants in government assistance programs (SNAP, Medicaid, SSI)
• Recipients of federal housing assistance
• Those experiencing financial hardship or crisis situations

Application Process

Applications can typically be submitted online, by phone, or in person. You will need to provide documentation of your income, household size, and proof of participation in qualifying programs if applicable.

Benefits Available

This program provides various forms of financial assistance depending on your specific circumstances and needs. Benefits may include bill payment assistance, emergency aid, or ongoing support services.

Contact & Apply

For more information about this program, including application deadlines and specific requirements, visit the official resource link below or contact the administering organization directly.