# Let me tell you about some stupid shit I did

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-tell-you-about-some-stupid-shit-i-did/687754>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [May 5, 2014, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-tell-you-about-some-stupid-shit-i-did/687754 "2014-05-05T22:12:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-tell-you-about-some-stupid-shit-i-did/687754/61 "2014-11-04T20:43:59Z")

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> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#):
>
> Call the place and insist on speaking to a person of authority. Explain the situation to him or her, calmly and politely, and say you are unable to afford the amount billed. Ask how you can work with them to retire the debt. If the person cannot or will not help, ask for their supervisor. And so on. Ask if there is a patient relations department or a patient advocate.
> 
> Medical organizations are usually willing to negotiate if you express a sincere desire to resolve the problem.
> 
> Good luck.  
> mmm

I tried that earlier this year for a $1,100 ER bill. The response was, basically, “No, the price is what it is. Bye-bye.”

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**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-tell-you-about-some-stupid-shit-i-did/687754/62 "2014-11-04T20:50:35Z")

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By the way, since writing the OP, I discovered that unbeknownst to us, the ER _also_ did not accept our insurance. No one told us this. I forget now what led me to believe the charge had been rejected by them due to it being non-emergent. Somebody told me that at some point, but I am not sure who. (Surely no one at the insurance company itself! But then I guess that leaves some unprofessional person at the hospital spitballing and pretending it was fact.)

This did not, in the end, seem to figure into the investigator’s reasoning, but it seems like something else I could have pushed on if necessary.

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**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-tell-you-about-some-stupid-shit-i-did/687754/63 "2014-11-04T20:51:36Z")

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> [@Velocity](#):
>
> I tried that earlier this year for a $1,100 ER bill. The response was, basically, “No, the price is what it is. Bye-bye.”

FWIW that’s what I got the first time I called, as well. But on a second call to billing, for whatever reason, they were then willing to direct me to the department that investigates whether proper procedures have been followed etc. Those are the guys that (eventually) allowed me to make progress on this.

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