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Believe it or not, you are not the only one who has medical bills. They seem endless and never-ending. You can get them from medical providers you have never heard of or thought of. Where did all these bills come from? If you have been in the hospital for a long-term stay expect a huge bill.

First, you have to break it down. What Date of Service (DOS) was billed and what was paid and what wasn’t paid and why – line by line.?

Let’s break it down. When you are admitted to the hospital for a scheduled surgery there is a facility fee. The doctors which are treating you have their fees. When tests are performed such as x-ray, MRI’s, lab, or any medication there are fees for these.

While in surgery there is an assistant surgeon and last but not least the Anthologist.  These are all the normal fees but of course, there could be other fees for your special needs.

Wow! these fees add up and your bill could be at least 30 pages long. When you have medical insurance your insurance company is billed. The insurance company whatever it is will usually pay 80% of the allowable. The allowable is determined from the contract your medical provider (the hospital) has with your insurance company. This is written off in a contractual agreement. It can be a different amount for different insurance plans. After the insurance has paid you are billed the balance of the bill if you do not have a 2^nd insurance to apply it to.

If you have 10 bills from different Medical Providers this can get confusing and expensive.

Medical Bills are billed from the Date of Service (DOS) you were seen by a Medical Provider or in patient in a Hospital, etc.

There are all kinds of problems that can crop up which your medical insurance company will bring to your attention. This is where medical appeals come in.

Also, you must have some kind of understanding of how your insurance company works if you want to protect yourself and your family.

Now with people entering hospitals and are there for long or longer stays the medical bills are going to be astronomical.

Now you have to look at every Explanation of Benefits (EOB) line by line.

You have to make sure everything was billed from each individual medical provider. 

This is going to be complicated.

My book Medicare and Other Health Insurances will help you understand what the next step will be needed to get your bills paid.

Thank you for reading my article. Please feel free to read any of my numerous articles on various subjects.

Linda Meckler copyright 2009 updated 2021