How Nicole Negotiated Medical Debt: Listen and Learn!

Summary

Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin: How Nicole Negotiated Medical Debt – Listen and Learn!

In this insightful episode of Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin, host Nicole shares her personal journey of navigating unexpected medical debt and provides actionable strategies for listeners facing similar financial challenges. Released on November 20, 2024, this episode delves deep into the complexities of medical billing, debt negotiation, and the importance of being proactive with insurance knowledge.

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1. A Sudden Medical Emergency

Nicole begins by recounting a harrowing medical incident that dramatically altered her financial landscape. She describes experiencing alarming symptoms that led her to call 911 and spend an extended period in the emergency room. The unforeseen medical expenses quickly piled up, with one of the most significant being a $2,000 ambulance bill.

Key Points:

• Sudden health scare requiring emergency services.
• Inability to drive herself to the hospital due to severe symptoms.
• Accumulation of unexpected medical bills, particularly the ambulance fee.

2. The Initial Bill and Dispute Process

Faced with the hefty ambulance bill, Nicole decides to dispute the charge, suspecting it was unjustified. She initiates contact with the ambulance company, leading to a recorded phone conversation with a representative named Mark.

Notable Interaction:

• [04:09] Nicole Lapin: "I received a bill for $2,000 for my ambulance service provided on 8/15/23. Do you know if that's been submitted to insurance?"

• [05:34] Mark: "The claim was filed to your insurance on October 19th of this year. We have to allow about eight weeks for processing, so that should come back right before Christmas."

Summary of the Call: Nicole seeks clarification on whether her insurance has been billed and if she owes any immediate payments. Mark informs her that the insurance claim is in process and that the bill won't likely be sent to collections imminently. He also suggests following up before Christmas for further updates.

3. Disputing the Ambulance Charge

Unsatisfied with the initial response, Nicole questions the necessity of the ambulance service, especially since the sirens and lights were not activated during her transport. She expresses her frustration with the billing process and Mark explains the protocol for disputing charges.

Key Exchange:

• [08:16] Mark: "Really?"

• [08:17] Nicole: "I was really upset. I was like, I think I'm dying, guys. But they were like, you have a pulse? It's fine. Okay, so, like, why did I even take an ambulance?"

Mark advises that Nicole can dispute the charge formally by submitting a written statement via email, circumventing the outdated fax requirement.

Notable Quote:

• [09:36] Nicole: "So they send notices to scare people into calling and then giving fax numbers to dissuade people from sending stuff in. Because where the heck do you find a fax until you have to ask for, like, a real mode of communication that we use in this day and age? Is that right?"

4. Follow-Up and Debt Collection Negotiation

After sending her dispute email, Nicole receives a response confirming the receipt and eventual reduction of her debt. However, months later, the ambulance company escalates the debt to collections, prompting her to negotiate further.

Negotiation Outcome:

• Original patient responsibility: $344.47
• Settled amount: Approximately $100

Key Insights:

• Debt collectors often aim to recover at least a fraction of the owed amount.
• Negotiating a lower settlement is possible and can significantly reduce financial strain.
• Acting promptly prevents negative impacts on credit scores.

5. Actionable Tips for Managing Medical Debt

Drawing from her experience, Nicole offers valuable advice to listeners to better manage and potentially avoid similar financial pitfalls:

1. Understand Your Insurance Coverage:

   • Tip: "Find some time when you're not in the middle of an emergency to call your insurance company and find out what is covered."
   • Details: Know specifics such as ambulance coverage, hospital stays, and out-of-state or international services to prevent unexpected bills.

2. Proactively Negotiate Bills:

   • Strategy: Dispute unjustified charges immediately to prevent escalation to collections.

3. Communicate Clearly with Service Providers:

   • Approach: Clearly state your reasons for disputing charges, such as the lack of sirens and accelerated service during the ambulance ride.

4. Prepare for Debt Collection Negotiations:

   • Advice: Approach negotiations with the aim of reducing the owed amount rather than expecting to pay nothing.

Notable Tip Recap:

• “In a medical emergency, you're not going to call the insurance company or you shouldn't to understand what's covered. Let’s just be realistic about that. So I recommend finding some time when you're not in the middle of an emergency to call your insurance company and find out what is covered.”

6. Conclusion and Empowerment

Nicole wraps up the episode by emphasizing the importance of financial vigilance and empowerment. Her journey underscores the necessity of understanding one's financial obligations and leveraging negotiation skills to mitigate unexpected debts.

Final Thoughts:

• Being proactive with insurance knowledge can prevent financial stress during emergencies.
• Effective communication and negotiation can lead to significant savings.
• Listener empowerment is key to achieving financial stability and avoiding undue burdens.

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Connect with Money Rehab: For personalized financial advice and to share your money-related questions, email [e-mail]. Join Nicole on the show for a one-on-one intervention and follow Money News Network on Instagram @moneynews and TikTok @MoneyNewsNetwork for exclusive content.

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By sharing her authentic experience, Nicole Lapin not only demystifies the process of negotiating medical debt but also equips listeners with the knowledge and confidence to tackle their financial challenges head-on. This episode serves as a crucial resource for anyone looking to rehabilitate their financial health in the face of unexpected expenses.

Transcript

[Nicole Lapin]

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[Mark]

Thank you for calling EMS services. May I have the account number you are calling about?

[Nicole]

Yes, certainly. How are you?

[Mark]

I'm good. And you?

[Nicole]

Okay, good. Great. Doing well. The account number is.

[Mark]

Okay, thank you for the account number. Thank you for calling lafd. Who do I have a pleasure of speaking today?

[Nicole]

You have such a great voice. This is Nicole. Who do I have the pleasure of speaking to?

[Mark]

My name is Mark. Give me your. Okay.

[Nicole]

Hi, Mark.

[Nicole Lapin]

Nice to meet you.

[Mark]

Nice to meet you, too. May I call you by your first name?

[Nicole]

You certainly can.

[Mark]

Okay, thank you. Nicole. Nicole, May I have a good phone number in case we get disconnected?

[Nicole Lapin]

Absolutely.

[Nicole]

3, 1, 0.

[Mark]

Okay. You got a landline or cell phone?

[Nicole]

It's a cell phone.

[Mark]

Okay. And patient's date of birth?

[Nicole]

3784.

[Mark]

And mailing address?

[Nicole]

It is.

[Mark]

Okay. All Right. And thank you for that. Thank you for verifying that. And how can I help you today?

[Nicole]

I received a bill for $2,000 for my ambulance service provided on 815 23. Do you know if that's been submitted to insurance?

[Mark]

Okay, let me take a look here. Okay. The claim was filed to your insurance on October 19th of this year. We have to allow about eight weeks for processing, so that should come back right before Christmas. But December 19th.

[Nicole]

Okay, so I don't owe anything right.

[Mark]

Now, Right now as far as owing? No, because we're processing with your insurance and we'll know more around December 19th or after.

[Nicole]

Okay. So do you have any idea of how much they would cover that?

[Mark]

I don't know. Your insurance can give you more insight into that. Normally they say, I can tell you they pay 80%, but I really could. That's gonna be about the best that we could do on our end.

[Nicole]

Okay. And I just want to make sure that this isn't being sent to collections, because that's what the notice says.

[Mark]

Okay. On that. That's a little more bark than bite. They do that to make you do just what you did today. Give us a call. You. That's the first of three, so you're going to get two more. Okay? What? May I make a suggestion for you, Nicole?

[Nicole]

Please do.

[Mark]

Okay. Enjoy your Thanksgiving and check back with us before Christmas and we'll let you know what's going on with the account.

[Nicole]

Okay, great. So the bark. The little bark notices that I'm getting. I guess, to use your terminology, that's just to scare me.

[Mark]

Well, just to get you to call in. They do that with billing, you know. Could they kind of go to collections? Yeah, but, you know, we just got. Just got the insurance. That's your first invoice, so. No, you're not. You're not going to collections that fast. No.

[Nicole]

Okay. I mean, we just got through Halloween. Like, I don't want to be. Keep getting scared, you know, for no reason.

[Mark]

No, no, you're not going to keep getting scared. It takes eight weeks, so we won't know anything until right before Christmas.

[Nicole]

Okay. Do you suggest that I call the insurance company?

[Mark]

You can call them. They can let you know where they are in processing.

[Nicole]

Okay.

[Mark]

Okay.

[Nicole]

All right. And then is there a different fee for ambulances that don't turn on their lights and siren? No, because they didn't do that.

[Mark]

Really?

[Nicole]

I was really upset. I was like, I think I'm dying, guys. But they were like, you have a pulse? It's fine. Okay, so, like, why did I even take an ambulance? Like, can I dispute that? Because they didn't. Like, they didn't get me there any faster.

[Mark]

I mean, if you felt like you needed to dispute. Yes.

[Nicole]

All right, let's do it.

[Mark]

Okay. You'd have to put that in writing and fax that in a fax.

[Nicole]

Mark.

[Mark]

Yes, ma'am.

[Nicole]

Where the heck do you find a fax around here.

[Mark]

If you don't. If you're not. Okay, well, they prefer us to tell facts first. I can give you an email where you can send it.

[Nicole]

Yeah, like, welcome to the 21st century.

[Mark]

Okay. Yes, ma'am. Let me know when you're ready.

[Nicole]

Oh, I'm ready. So they. So, okay, so this is fascinating protocol. So they send notices to scare people into calling and then giving fax numbers to dissuade people from sending stuff in. Because where the heck do you find a fax until you have to ask for, like, a real mode of communication that we use in this day and age? Is that right?

[Mark]

Yeah, unfortunately.

[Nicole]

Well, thank you for your help. Okay, what's the email address?

[Mark]

EMS escalation services@digitech computer.com.

[Nicole]

Is that a real website? Digitechcomputer.com. okay, great. Okay. All right, great. And then what do I put in this email?

[Mark]

Basically what you told me.

[Nicole]

Okay, so I don't have to, like, have a particular form?

[Mark]

No, they don't really have a form.

[Nicole]

Okay, so I just write, like, my account number, the date of service, and say, like, to whom it may concern.

[Mark]

Your account number in the subject.

[Nicole]

Okay.

[Mark]

And just same way you explained it to me. Explain it in the. In the body.

[Nicole]

Okay. Okay, so. Okay, great. So just say, I don't think I should be charged for this because nobody put the sirens on. Like.

[Mark]

Right.

[Nicole]

Thank you. Goodbye.

[Mark]

Okay. Anything else I can do for today?

[Nicole]

No. So if I send this email, does it disrupt the chain of submission to the insurance?

[Mark]

No, we're still going to submit it to the insurance or so. I mean, it's already been submitted to the insurance on the 19th.

[Nicole]

Okay. All right, sounds good. Is there anything I should know? Any other pro tips?

[Mark]

No, ma'am.

[Nicole]

All right, well, you've been so helpful. Thanks, Mark.

[Mark]

You're welcome. You have a wonderful rest of the day.

[Nicole]

You, too. Bye.

[Nicole Lapin]

So can I just say, this was so confusing to me, which is another reason calling is always a good idea. I didn't realize this was going to be submitted to my insurance. It was a bill that was sent to me. The instinct is to just pay it. Right. So If I had just paid it, I would have missed out on insurance coverage. But anyway, right after I got off the phone, I sent an email to my new friend Mark and I wrote to whom it may concern, I just spoke with your representative, Mark and informed him that I would like to dispute this bill from 101723 as the ambulance did not put its lights or sirens on. I did not get there any earlier and it was more stressful, not less. Thank you, Nicole. Yep, I was ready for a fight. And then days later I heard back, hello, I am confirming we received your dispute. I have sent this to be reviewed. Thank you. And then the manager's name. Months later, nothing happened. So I followed up and obviously still had my game face on and said hello, I did not hear back on this. I assume that is because you waived this erroneous charge. And then they turned a friendly corner and said, hello, I will be happy to assist you with your inquiry. I am seeing that there is a balance on the account. The balance is $344.47. It looks like your insurance paid $1,617.53 of the total charged. The remaining balance is the patient respons. Okay, so this is a huge improvement. Of course, my goal is to pay $0 here and I always try to shoot my shot. The worst they could say is no. So I said thank you. I am disputing my part of the charge. As stated below, the siren was not on. I don't believe I should be responsible for anything after that. I didn't hear back until I did. The ambulance company sent that debt to collections. Then I started getting phone calls from debt collectors. And while I believe in negotiating every unfair bill, I certainly don't recommend waiting until that debt goes to collections. If you wait that long to pay a debt, your credit score can be affected and we definitely don't want that. But if you do talk to a debt collector, you should know that you can negotiate that debt, which is what I did. My Debt was for $344.47, but again, my goal was to try and pay nothing, which at that point wasn't going to happen without digging my credit score. But I could try and pay less than what I owed because again, on principle I didn't and don't think I should have paid anything. The siren was indeed off. I essentially could have taken an Uber or a Lyft and it wouldn't have been two grand. It probably would have been 75 bucks. So that's what I tried to pay the debt collector, of course, tried to get more and we met closer to what I was getting at and settled for around a hundred bucks. Remember, it is the debt collector's job to get anything back, even pennies on the dollar. Oftentimes they do have approval to settle for a lower number. I mean, think about it. If I think someone is going to give me nothing back, I would certainly rather take something versus nothing. And that something is exactly what you should aim to pay for. Today's tip you can take straight to the bank. In a medical emergency, you're not going to call the insurance company or you shouldn't to understand what's covered. Let's just be realistic about that. So I recommend finding some time when you're not in the middle of an emergency to call your insurance company and find out what is covered. Is an ambulance covered? Is an overnight hospital stay covered? Are these things covered out of state? What about internationally? Knowing this information before before you need to use it will help you make sure you don't have to have a fight with the ambulance company in the first place. Money Rehab is a production of Money News Network. I'm your host, Nicole Lapin. Money Rehab's executive producer is Morgan Lavoy. Our researcher is Emily Holmes. Do you need some Money Rehab? And let's be honest, we all do. So email us your Money questions money rehaboneynewsnetwork.com to potentially have your questions answered on the show or even have a one on one intervention with me. And follow us on Instagram @moneynews and TikTok at MoneyNews Network for exclusive video content. And lastly, thank you. No, seriously, thank you. Thank you for listening and for investing in yourself, which is the most important investment you can make.