should you pay the first medical bill that you get?

An important topic that we're addressing today is "should you pay the first medical bill that you get"?

Author, Marshall Allen, "likens today's health care system to a bully, squeezing and taunting the consumer". He says you don't need to have a major surgical procedure to feel that steep out-of- pocket health care costs which also include your annual health insurance premiums and deductibles as well as an epidemic of billing mistakes are draining your pocketbook! 

According to Allen, the cost of basic health care is Americans' #1 financial concern. Allen recently wrote a book which is a guide on how to fight back against out-of-control medical costs and bills. His book is entitled, "Never Pay the First Bill: And Other Ways to Fight the Health Care System and Win".

Allen cites the perennial increase in health care prices. If you look at 2010 - 2020, workers' earnings went up 27%, family health care premiums went 55% and deductibles went up 111%. So, family premiums went up twice as fast as workers' earnings.

Some people feel as though they are uninsured, even if they are technically insured, because they are responsible for a lot of out-of-pocket costs. This is especially true if someone has a high annual
deductible. If you have a $3,000, $5,000, or $10,000 deductible, you are functionally uninsured...that's a sobering thought! Source...

Allen makes the point that he is not advocating that we should not pay our bills at all, but "that we should never pay the first bill until we have checked it to make sure it's accurately priced and accurately documented." Source...

Did you know that experts who review medical bills for a living say that almost every medical bill has some kind of an error. It's common for there to be charges for things that didn't even happen. And, it's very common to be charged more than you should be charged for something that did happen.

Allen also said, "In America, we say the customer is always right. But in health care, the insurance companies are more concerned with keeping the hospitals, doctors, nursing homes and others in their networks than they are making sure that we're satisfied with the quality of care or the accuracy of the billing. So, even if you have an error in your bill, your insurance company will just pay it!"

People get the feeling that they are on their own. There's seems to be a sense of betrayal that the American public feels. Older Americans who are caring for their older parents have experienced the higher and higher costs year after year!

That's why there is momentum to do something about this situation in the American health care system!

Allen closes this interview by saying, "It's going to be a fight. There's going to be winners and losers, because right not they're taking away more of our money than they should and they're not going to release their grip on our money without us fighting back." Source...

We invite you to read this entire interview at Next Avenue.