80 Percent of Medical Bills Have Errors
The Consumerist: Read those bills from doctors and hospitals carefully! According to a report cited by Consumer Reports Health, up to 80 percent of all such bills contain errors. CRH recommends insisting on an itemized bill — and reading it carefully. Some of the more common errors:
* Incorrect dates of service — make sure you’re not being charged for a room on the day you were discharged from the hospital, which most plans don’t allow.
* Inflated room charges including fees for incidentals like sheets and towels that should already be included in the room charge.
* Duplicate fees for tests and procedures.
* Human errors-one mistaken keystroke could result in the wrong billing code.
* Inflated operating room time-your hospital should have an exact record of when your surgery began and ended.
