How to Ask Your Doctor, Hospital, or Dentist for a Discount

The following is a guest post from HealthHarbor, a site dedicated to helping people become smarter consumers of healthcare, with content, tools, and an online community.

The savvy consumer knows that everything is negotiable.  Well, perhaps not taxes, but everything else.  Medical bills are no exception, whether they are from a doctor’s office, hospital, clinic, dentist, or other provider.  Medical providers run their business in a way that assumes discounting and negotiation will be commonplace, although the discounts are typically given to insurers instead of patients.  They often receive a fraction of the total charges – anywhere from 50% to 80% is common – from the large insurers, and much less from the government payers.  As with any other negotiation, if you seek a win-win in good faith, there is a high likelihood that you will be able to find a discount on your healthcare bill.  Here are a few things to keep in mind as you do.

• Be Proactive:  As with anything else, your leverage is highest when a provider knows that you may go elsewhere for a service if the price isn’t right.  Negotiating up-front, even before you schedule an appointment, will allow you to lock in a better price on a service and avoid the sticker shock later on.  Two caveats, though:  First, they may ask for payment up front in return for the discount they give you.  Second, they will likely want a clause saying that if there are complications outside of their control, they can revisit the pricing.  Both requests are pretty fair.

• Do Some Research:  Providers’ margins are obviously driven by a combination of the volume of patients they see, and the level of reimbursement they negotiate.  If you know that volumes have dried up and your provider is looking to fill his schedule, you are in a strong position.  Likewise, if you know that a typical provider discount to the insurer is, say, 30% (which can easily be found on an Explanation of Benefits or EOB form), you have a good starting point.  In general, you should be able to score a discount of 10 – 30%, but potentially more based on your market.

• Know Which Services Are More Likely to be Discounted:  Services that are commoditized – those which are essentially the same wherever you go, are more likely to be ripe for discounts.  A dental cleaning, routine eye exam, or MRI are all pretty much the same wherever you go.  These services offer a great opportunity to price shop.  On the other hand, having a year-long relationship with an internist to lower your blood pressure, or being treated for a more serious illness are likely to be difficulty to price easily and less likely to offer good discounts.

In short, add medical services to the list of things you can haggle on.  Don’t forget about quality – find a provider you trust and who has a good track record – but know that asking for discounts with them is never off-limits.

Comments

[Businessman]

Health is needs every people!
By the way it is great posting. Thanks a lot!

[Miss Thrifty]

Wow - I'm in the UK and posts like this remind me how fortunate I am to have free healthcare. Going to the hospital/dentist is horrible & stressful enough at the best of times, without having to worry about making payments and negotiating discounts.

But I reckon these tips are also applicable to areas outside healthcare, and they're really useful - thanks!

[generic viagra]

Is anybody familiarized with the medical discount plan called "Best Care"

[sildenafil]

As in any negotiation is easy to say, if you seek a win-win in good faith, there is a high probability that you will be able to find a discount on your medical bill.

[financial life]

I had been discussing this issue with my older sister the other day, now I will have one particular a lot more argument in my hand when it’ll arrive to confrontation the moment yet again....