What these guides cover
Billing errors
The most common errors on hospital and physician bills, how to identify them on your itemized statement, and what each error means for what you owe.
- Common medical billing errors
- Duplicate charges
- Upcoding
- Unbundling
- Balance billing
- Phantom charges
Disputing and negotiating
How to dispute charges, from requesting your itemized bill through sending a formal dispute letter. Covers state-specific timelines, how to escalate to your state insurance commissioner, and what to do when a hospital sends your account to collections.
- How to dispute a medical bill
- Medical billing advocates
- Dispute letter templates
- Medical debt and credit reports
- Medical debt collections rights
Patient rights
Federal and state laws that protect you as a patient. The No Surprises Act, the Hospital Price Transparency Rule, and your statutory right to an itemized bill are legal tools most patients never use because they do not know they exist.
- No Surprises Act
- Hospital Price Transparency Rule
- Right to an itemized bill
- Charity care and financial assistance
- State patient billing rights
Reading your bill
What the columns, codes, and dollar amounts on a medical bill actually mean. CPT codes, revenue codes, the difference between billed charges and allowed amounts, and how to read an Explanation of Benefits alongside the itemized bill.
- How to read an itemized hospital bill
- CPT codes explained
- Explanation of Benefits (EOB)
- Medicare fee schedule vs. billed charges
- Revenue codes and facility fees
Hospital pricing data
Under the Hospital Price Transparency Rule, every US hospital is required to publish their negotiated rates. These guides explain what that data is, how to read it, and how to use it when disputing a charge.