How often do you get a bill for more than you were expecting to pay? Do you ever do anything about it? I recently had this happen to me and with some persistence I was able to get it taken care of with even better results than I was expecting. Keep reading to see how just a few minutes of your time can save you hundreds or even thousands.

Near the end of 2019 a local health clinic placed an ad or coupon in a mailer that we received. There were two things that got me interested in this. First they offered a couple free movie tickets for each adult just for coming in. With a family of 6 this is kind of a big deal. So my wife and I each went in so we could snag 4 tickets. This was not out of our way to get there otherwise it may not have been worth it.

The second thing they had which caught my attention was a free allergy screening. Our oldest Daughter does get some mild allergic reactions so we thought it would be a good time to find out what she is allergic to.

SALES TACTICS

Unfortunately this was an old fashioned tactic to get people in there. Sort of like a bait and switch kind of move. When we went back for the test the person informed us that the free one is very basic and only tests for a few things. Then they have the complete one that does more, or the one above that which tests a few more things. We didn’t feel the need for the super complete option since the additional tests we knew she was not allergic to. We were told that our insurance would cover the test. So we decided to go ahead and get the complete test. The results are pretty fast and showed the things that she was allergic to, some we did not know about, like that she has a mild reaction to dogs but a higher reaction to cats. We were primarily hoping to find out what types of pollen she is allergic to. In the end none of the reactions were severe enough to warrant a treatment so we left with just the results for our knowledge.

Of course I was expecting to get a bill for a copay or some deductible. But when we got the bill, several months later, maybe 5 months later, it showed that we owed about $650.00. The total cost for the test was close to $1500. I was quite upset about that. Had we known it would cost that much we would not have done the test, it wasn’t that important.

I immediately called the number on the bill and did not get an answer so I left a message. After several weeks my call was not returned. So I called again and spoke with someone and explained the whole situation. How we had gone in for a free test, got up-sold to the better test and that we were told that insurance would “cover” it. That person said she would need to talk to her manager and would call back. I mentioned I was willing to pay half if they would give me that discount based on the situation.

After several weeks I still had not received a call from them. But I did get in the mail a letter stating that we were 90 days past due and we need to take care of it immediately. I then called them back again and mentioned the letter and how I had spoken with someone that was going to talk with the manager to see if I can get a discount. This person then put me on hold and after about a minute of waiting she came back and said that when we had done the test they were ‘out-of-network’ and that now they are in-network but they would write off my bill so there is nothing for me to pay.

SURPRISE AND RELIEF

I was a bit surprised at this honestly. I was expecting and willing to still pay something. But if they were going to just wipe it away, I was happy with that. My guess is that the insurance payment they did receive more than covered the cost anyway.

It goes to show that just because you get a bill saying you owe something, does not mean you have to just pay it. This was not the first time I have been able to wipe away fees or costs due. Many times when I get a bank fee for insufficient funds or when the account goes negative, I can almost always get these removed. Years ago when we were much more financially strapped and we had a child that had a large hospital bill, we were told we could apply for the possibility to get our portion of the bill removed. I don’t know if this comes from donations or just the hospital itself decides to eat some costs to help low income families. By applying for this aid we were approved and able to waive maybe about $1500 in hospital bills which was a huge blessing at the time.

But this does not apply only to bills and fees. There are many benefits available for most places that they do not advertise. You just have to not be afraid to ask. Everything is negotiable. I know for a fact (at least it was fact in the early to mid-2000’s, not sure if anything has changed since) that in Omaha, NE, the Children’s Museum has free or discounted memberships for low-income families as does also the famous Henry Doorly Zoo. In both of those cases all you had to do was bring in your tax filings to prove your income and you get approved for it.

EVERYTHING IS NEGOTIABLE

I was recently shopping for new flooring for a house I am rehabbing to sell. With different stores I could get different deals. In one place just by explaining what I was doing they offered me their contractor price which was a good amount less than retail. Another place had a 10% discount already going on but said I could probably get 20% off. Many places will not offer you discounts unless you ask. And even then you can make a lower offer and negotiate something better. Most people do this a little when buying a car, but it can be done with just about anyplace that uses a salesperson. Never pay retail if you can avoid it.

The reason why I decided to write this specific blog at this specific time is because I am writing it while at a hospital in Salt Lake City with one of my children during a time of Covid-19. We are here to get her tested for Achalasia. A very rare disease which has no cure. Our local doctor in Idaho referred us to a specialist in Salt Lake City who treats this disease in youth and we are here to get tested for it. When we arrived I was informed that the total cost of the procedure is about $7k and that my portion to pay will be $1800. So yeah, I was not thrilled to hear that, but you can’t put a price on the health of a child. I am happy to pay it to know that she will be fine.

An update to the above paragraph. The first test was an endoscopy which looked like it was Achalasia. But then the second test proved that it was not. So that was a huge relief. The total time for both tests including waiting for her to recover from the anesthesia for the first one, was maybe about an hour. The total time for us includes 6 hours of driving (3 there and 3 back) and 6 hours of waiting plus the 1 hour of testing. Yes, 6 hours of just waiting to be tested! But again, I complain but it was so worth it to know that she does not have that disease. If you, like me, have never heard of that disease, look it up. It is horrible.

I hope this little personal experience will help motivate you to take some action and spend a little time to save money. All told I think I may have spent less than 5 minutes and saved (or earned depending on how you look at it) $650. Time very well spent if you ask me.