Headlined in the online NY Times at
[K]eep in mind that doctors, hospitals and medical labs are accustomed to negotiating. After all, they do it all the time with insurers. A hospital may have a dozen or more rates for one procedure, depending on whether Medicare, Medicaid or a private insurer is paying the bill... Your request for a special arrangement will hardly confound their accounting department. And it is usually in everyone?s interest to avoid dealing with a bill collector.
[Specific advise from the Times article] Don?t be shy. ?Patients are often intimidated by their doctors ? it?s the white coat,?... ?But if you need help, speak up. Most are likely to help out.? Talk directly to your doctor about your financial situation. If that makes you uncomfortable, then go to the billing manager. The office may be able to offer you a discount of 10 to 30 percent depending on the practice (specialists may offer a bigger break), or propose a plan in which you pay your balance in a few installments or on a monthly basis ? typically at no interest.
Offer to pay cash upfront.
Be respectful. You?re negotiating for your health, not haggling over a used car. So Dr. Moritz cautions you not to call your physician and say: ?Dr. So-and-So will do the procedure for $300 less. Can you match that??
Strike a deal before you check in. If you need shoulder surgery, for instance, but don?t have insurance ? or are facing a high hospital co- payment ? call the hospital?s billing department and explain that you would like to discuss getting a discount and why. Dr. Moritz suggests saying, ?I?d like to pay the lowest rate you give an insurance company.?
Research your final bill, and be ready to make a counteroffer. Like doctors, hospitals would rather be paid something than nothing. They lost $34 billion in 2007 on uncompensated care, up 55 percent from
2002.... Find out what Medicare would pay for your condition or surgery, since that program tends to pay less than private insurers. You can learn that at the federal Department of Health and Human Services database,
Negotiate with medical labs the same as you would doctors or hospitals (see above).