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Qbr12 t1_iujnk6q wrote

Reply to comment by ktigger2 in A billing expert investigated her husband's ER bill. She was able to knock thousands off the charge. by 11ej25

> For a $10 grand bill, I’ve negotiated and fought down several thousands. and…the patient still had several thousand to pay. In that case what could they have paid me?

Take a cut of the difference. If you agree to a 10% cut, and you drop the bill from $10k to $5k, you saved them $5000 so you get paid $500. Your friend is happy because they save $4500 and you are happy because you get $500! That's a sustainable business model if I ever saw one!

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ktigger2 t1_iujojrp wrote

That $100 also took me hours of work, phone calls, digging through their medical policy to make sure they had coverage (or didn’t) plus reviewing itemized billing. I’ve totaled up my time for when I’ve done this, especially complicated cases with high dollars and I’d make more at a minimum wage job. I did seriously look at this as a business model, it’s not profitable.

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Qbr12 t1_iujqfcq wrote

Should be $500, I flubbed my math there, but I understand what you're saying. Sometimes the juice isn't worth the squeeze.

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falco_iii t1_iujulvj wrote

It would require streamlining and automating the process as much as possible. Have a notary ready, have a checklist of actions to take & have a lower wage assistant to do the basic steps, learn what bills normally look like so you don't chase after crumbs, etc...

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ktigger2 t1_iujw44i wrote

LMAO at streamlining anything in regards to medical insurance in the USA. There are 4 employees that are billing related to every provider, and that’s just on the medical side. Medical insurers all have different billing systems, EOBs with info in different spots. Same with providers. You are investigating if it was billed correctly (documented correctly) and or paid correctly. Everyone answering here telling me you could make a living doing this for work has never worked with medical billing. But you are all giving me a nice laugh today.

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fuddykrueger t1_iuk7pdy wrote

I know. I worked for a doctor who paid me a whole $20/hr (before taxes) to chase down insurance payments from his patients’ denied claims. I made him way, way more money per hour than what he paid me for my time and frustration.

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ktigger2 t1_iuk8enr wrote

I helped work denials for a clinic as a part time gig. I found them way more $ than they paid me. I feel you! Now that I would have done for 10% of what I earned for them and still made bunk.

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saltoftree t1_iujutrh wrote

What exactly would the notary be doing in this arrangement?

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ktigger2 t1_iujw5f0 wrote

Nothing. It wouldn’t be necessary.

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falco_iii t1_iujwvbo wrote

Notarizing the patient's request for full medical records, as per the article.

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ktigger2 t1_iujxfx0 wrote

Requests for records do not need to be notarized.

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The0nlyMadMan t1_iujymxm wrote

If a third-party is requesting your full medical history on your behalf it makes sense to me to have the request notarized

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ktigger2 t1_iujzuhp wrote

HIPPA doesn’t require medical record requests to be notarized.

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The0nlyMadMan t1_iuk2lx6 wrote

I never said they did? I just said it makes sense. For sensitive information like that, I would understand it being a requirement.

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cheesegoat t1_iuk2y2i wrote

Perhaps people could pay a recurring membership, you pay for their medical bill in full and then whatever you fight down reduces your cost? Incentive for you is to reduce as much cost as possible to make sure the membership fee is profitable.

You could call it... insurance insurance.

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ok_itz_zae t1_iuk869e wrote

It's weird to me that someone would be able to make money from something that is made up.

It takes someone minutes for someone to create an incorrect bill... then it costs you your most valuable resource, your time and another valuable resource, your money to get this resolved.

If you got a fake bill, you would consider it stealing if you paid it. Attempted theft if you didn't.

It would be better to take these money loving doctor offices to court or find a better way to hold them accountable...

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Fausterion18 t1_iuk6m16 wrote

$500 is about the cost of an auto broker who finds the car you want and negotiate a deal for you. And often they have pre-negotiaged deals with specific volume dealers.

This is maybe a couple hours of work per client at the most. Compare it to negotiating a hospital bill which could take tens of hours.

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jgengr t1_iujtlf4 wrote

Could the commission be subsidized by a non profit? Or get paid hourly by non profit and get a commission off of what is saved?

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ktigger2 t1_iujxss9 wrote

That would be a thought and one I looked at when it was considering doing this. But what nonprofit? You need one already involved with medical services and has a way to find this clientele plus pay someone to do this. I stopped there a decade ago. Maybe when I retire I’ll volunteer somewhere but for now medical coders are in demand and we can make more working regular medical coding gigs.

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