As the government churns through health care reform, the media has realized that consumers can negotiate their health care with doctors and hospitals. The article indicates that it is best to choose an advocate with a successful track record in health care cost reduction. Medical Cost Advocate is a leader in health care cost reduction through expert negotiation.
New York Times
By WALECIA KONRAD
THESE days, dealing with medical bills and insurance claims makes April 15 look easy. The medical jargon and inscrutable coding on invoices and explanations of benefits are indecipherable for most lay people. Worse, seriously ill patients may simply be too sick or too broke to deal with the mountains of red tape. That can lead to unpaid medical debts and even bankruptcy.
It’s no wonder that a cottage industry has sprung up to fill this void. Known as medical billing advocates, these middlemen and women help patients deal with the paperwork and haggling often associated with medical costs.
In general, medical billing advocates help you find errors in your bills, negotiate with your insurer to appeal coverage denials, or negotiate lower fees with your medical care providers. Some advocates do all three tasks equally well. But others, because of their training or background, may specialize in one area or another.
Still others give the client the ammunition he or she needs to negotiate. That’s what happened to Susan Redstone, a freelance fashion stylist and author. When she broke her back in a horseback riding accident last summer, she held only a bare-bones insurance policy. So Ms. Redstone, who has since recovered, knew that she would be responsible for the bulk of her medical expenses.
Five months after the accident, just when she thought she had paid everything off, she got a bill for $16,000 from the helicopter ambulance service that ferried her from the remote location in Colorado where the accident occurred to a large medical facility 75 miles away. “I was completely taken by surprise to get this bill so long after the accident happened,” Ms. Redstone said. She consulted with Victoria Caras, a medical advocate in Aspen, Colo., who coached her on how best to approach the medical transportation company to lower her bill. With Ms. Caras’s advice, Ms. Redstone was able to negotiate a 25 percent discount in exchange for paying the bill in full. (more…)