HOW TO READ BILLS AND FIND MISTAKES

An Article from the Indystar Sunday June 3, 2010

Here are some tips to understand your medical bills and detect errors:

Ask for an Itemized Billing Statement:	Compare the Explanation of Benefits with Billing Statements:	Consult Online Medical Sites:	Review Bills Closely for Services Never Received:	Watch for Duplicate Billing:
Hospitals and health-care providers will provide bills detailing charges for specific procedures, supplies, tests and services.	Cross-check the insurance company's explanation of benefits statements with itemized bills.	To help decipher medical coding and abbreviations, check Online-medical-dictionary.org. For more information about a laboratory test and why it's needed, visit Labtestsonline.org.	Check to see if you received every service, treatment and medication for which you were billed.	Check bills you receive from various providers to make sure you haven't been charged twice for the same service, drugs or supplies.

Verify Dates of Hospital Stay:	Remember Canceled Work:	Watch for "Upcoding":	Check Hospital and Operating Room Charges:
Check the dates of your admission and discharge, and make sure you were not charged for the discharge day. Most hospitals will charge for admission day but not discharge day.	If your doctor ordered, then canceled, a test or you weren't able to get it because of equipment failure or you were too ill, make sure you weren't charged for it	Sometimes charges can be inflated, such as when your doctor prescribes a generic drug, but the bill lists a costlier, brand-name drug you didn't get.	If you were in a semi-private room, make sure you weren't charged for a private room If you asked for a semi-private room but one wasn't available, you shouldn't be charged for a private room, even if you used one.

Sources: Star arcives; www.WebMD.com;Medical Bill Advocates of America, Salem, Va.; MedReview Solutions, Zionsville; Indy Medical Bill Review, Indianapolis;www.Moneycentral.msn.com.