[temp1928384]

I'm on insurance, and to be very real I have gotten bills in the past from providers that I never ended up paying. The reality is that this is more common than not...providers only collect some small % of the part of the bill the patient (and not insurance company) is responsible for. They usually end up selling this debt for pennies on the dollar to collections agencies.

Do I feel guilty? Not really. But the lesson is that the number you see on some bill from a hospital or provider is not non-negotiable, and in general unlike the IRS they don't exactly have any power to garner your wages to collect.

If you find yourself in a position where you're getting some ridiculous bill, you should definitely hire a trusted lawyer to negotiate down a bill on your behalf.

[antisthenes]

That's become my strategy as well.

1. Ignore all bills except the most persistent ones. Look at which ones are still being sent 3 months later.

2. Triage and sort the bills. Prioritize the ones that are related to the primary care facility where you were treated. Call them and negotiate to pay less.

3. Wait until 6 months and see if any bills are still coming. If they are, look at them again in order of priority, seeing if any of them are still reasonable and you have actually received the service/care.

After 12 months, if you haven't been receiving any care, toss any bills.

[noitsnot]

I had an outpatient procedure a few years ago and called to question the bill. It seemed like balance billing at the time and I straight-out said it to the office admin. Apparently that's all it takes, the thought of litigation and bad publicity? I haven't received another bill.