8 out of 10 Hospital Bills Have Errors - Wait What?

Errors, we all make them.

Well some of us. Others have still not figured out that an error is not a ding on your perfect record.

"Eight out of ten hospital bills we see contain an error, so check your bill carefully. You may identify a drug you didn’t take. Or you know that you discontinued a treatment on Tuesday, but you were charged for Wednesday. The number on the bill is only a starting point. Try to negotiate for 35 to 50 percent off the charges." —Pat Palmer, CEO of Medical Billing Advocates of America.

Humm, really? That does not sound like an error statement. That sounds like a - I want to see what I can get away with statement.

Would any other industry be allowed to do this without losing complete credibility? Heck even the car business - sorry guys - gets it. The sticker on the window isn't real. Let me bring you invoice pricing...

I had my own run in a few times with this "Error"

Back in 2011 my wife stabbed herself in the arm with an Exact-o knife and we went to the ER due to the depth of the puncture. (No she was not trying to get away from me, she was making Halloween costumes)

After a resident stitched her up (3 stitches) they handed me a bill for $2300 with a charge of $800 for an ibuprofen. I laughed out loud, literally as they tried to justify the cost.

Needless to say I walked out paying $236 cash...

You see that is the thing. They will drop the price in a second if they know you are paying right then. It did take more than one "stab" at the negotiation, lucky I didn't have the knife, but in the end a conversation that seemed uncomfortable to have saved me over $2,000

Error? Not quite. We can call it that for now instead of another choice word.

Anthony Pacheco

With a lifetime as an Entrepreneur and almost a decade in the insurance industry, I find the reverse-consumer driven healthcare industry appalling. My ultimate goal of is to expose the corruption inside of the industry. By story telling I provide real life examples of how we do not have to accept the status quo. I am not a writer, just a realist, and I am really mad that the industry does not have the correct regulations holding it accountable.