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People share hacks to slash medical bills by over 50% and call out U.S. healthcare system

People across Twitter are calling out the ominous workings of this sham of a healthcare system by sharing how they got their exorbitant bills drastically reduced simply by pushing back a little.

People share hacks to slash medical bills by over 50% and call out U.S. healthcare system
Cover Image Source: Twitter/@icutyolawnduhh

By now it is common knowledge that the U.S. healthcare system is all sorts of broken. An overwhelming number of Americans are haunted by debilitating medical bills and spend a lifetime trying to pay them off. Let's not even get into the whole mess of insurance providers that more often than not do very little of what's promised. However, people are now calling out the ominous workings of this sham of a healthcare system by sharing how they got their exorbitant bills drastically reduced simply by pushing back a little.

Twitter user Yolanda recently got the ball rolling when she revealed how her $4000 hospital bill went all the way down to $950 when she asked for an itemized bill. i.e., by asking for a detailed list of the services she was charged for, she managed to get her bill lowered by a whopping 76%. As Yolanda put it: "Our health care system is a SCAM." The tweet quickly went viral on the platform with other netizens sharing similar stories of how itemized bills protected their wallets. Some Twitter users also shared other ways to get a medical bill slashed and it leaves you to wonder why there's such a huge discrepancy between the original charges and the ones asking for an itemized bill can get you.



 

 



 

 



 

 



 

 



 

 

Speaking to Vox, Sue Null—a professional patient advocate at a firm called Systemedic—explained that getting a discount on a medical bill is an uphill battle that involves two crucial factors: the right information and the right person. She recommends finding any and all documentation on how your hospital visit was coded and the services that were provided. Like Yolanda, and all the other folks swearing by the bill-reduction powers of an itemized bill request, Null recommends tracking down an itemized bill even though this might prove to be a time-consuming effort.



 

 



 

 



 

 



 

 



 

 

Once you do get an itemized bill, scan it for any discrepancies—charges for services that weren't provided, duplicate fees, exceptionally high prices for something, etc. To determine whether the prices listed in the bill are within reasonable limits, you can compare it with information on databases like Fair Health or Healthcare Bluebook. These databases will give you an idea of what nearby doctors and hospitals typically charge for the care you received.



 

 



 

 



 

 



 

 

TikTok user Shaunna Burns went viral late last year for her tips on how to deal with medical bills. "The fact that there are people out there thinking debt equal deadbeat ... debt doesn't equal deadbeat. I'm not a deadbeat, and I have great credit, and I'm still having to deal with debt collection," she told Business Insider at the time. "I literally spent hours a week fighting with insurance companies over stupid bills that shouldn't have been charged... having to do all that is annoying and frustrating, and I thought if I could help one person [with the TikToks], it would be worth it."



 

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