Was Girlfriend A Hero For Fighting the Hierarchy To Get Her Boyfriend’s Medical Bill Down By 99%?

As medical costs continue to rise, one brave soul puts up her dukes to the hierarchical powers to bring down her boyfriend’s medical bill. Here is the girlfriend’s account of her experience around holiday time. We’ll name her Jane.

Jane’s Boyfriend Gets A ‘Ridiculous’ Hospital Bill

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Jane’s boyfriend went to the emergency room after an accident and got “a truly ridiculous bill back.” She offered to fight the bill for him because she’d done it before, and he said sure. She went all-out because the bill was out five grand, after insurance, which would screw up their holiday plans.

Jane Is Working In a Frenzy

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Jane took numerous steps she shared on the Internet. Once her boyfriend got the hospital to authorize her to handle his bill and access his medical records, she reviewed his itemized bill and compared the prices for each code to the fair prices. Then, she focused on the billing department.

Jane Made Calls To The Billing Department

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She called the billing department about the bill, but that department only collects bills, so she needed to contact the administration to dispute the account. She was bounced around the call center for hours but didn’t get far.

Jane Reached Out To the Most Influential Managers

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Jane did a Google and LinkedIn search for the hospital board of directors and upper management. She received 30 email responses from the most influential people at the hospital, plus the hospital’s investors.

Daily,  she sent out responses, working her way up the chain and writing an (increasingly long) email describing how they billed my “client” seven times over the fair price for services rendered. OP told them how their billing department, customer service department, and the growing list of management she’d emailed had failed to address the issue.

Jane Sent Her Analysis of Service Pricing to The Board of Directors and Investors

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Jane escalated the emails until she wrote the director-level staff with the entire board of directors and CC’d several outside investors, asking for a written statement regarding their justification for billing at a rate seven times higher than the national average for commensurate services to what is available at other hospitals. She sternly laid out the failures to respond appropriately at every company level.

Finally, Jane Shares the Results With Her Boyfriend

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Jane shared her results with her boyfriend, saying, “Well, once I’d done all that (only 15 minutes a day), they reduced the bill… From $5000 to $26. Yep, twenty-six @#$%&* dollars.”

She told her boyfriend about the reduced medical bill,  and he was initially happy. However, he asked how she did it. She shared some details, but he flipped through the 60 emails when she gave him her phone. He told her she went ” way too far,” saying he had expected her just to dispute with the billing department, “or something normal and reasonable like that, not internet stalk every manager, board member, and investor,” harassing them into dropping the bill.

Jane Was Annoyed At Her Boyfriend’s Response

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Jane was frustrated and furious at her boyfriend because she had saved substantial money to afford a lovely holiday, and he was mad at her for her tactics. She turned to the Internet, asking if she was wrong about how she got her boyfriend’s medical bill dropped.

Online Weighed In, Calling Jane A Rock Star

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The Internet blew up, with people piling in with adoring support and amazement for what Jane could accomplish.
At nearly 71,000 upvotes, one person told Jane, “You are a friggin’ rock star and should be a professional advocate for those who get ripped in healthcare like this. Your boyfriend is unappreciative and clueless about how diligent you must be to challenge an erroneous bill. What else should you do when the hospital, doctors, and insurance companies are unwilling to help you resolve their errors? So many people quit and either pay the massive bill or go into debt. Tell your boyfriend this is the only gift you’re giving him, as you are not in the wrong.”

Jane Felt Better After Hearing the Positive Remarks

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Jane responded to the comments, asking her where she had known how to do this, saying, “Ugh, I wish I hadn’t. I only learned so much about corporate law after a few experiences as a woman in automotive engineering that made me practice reading law and threatening corporations. Thanks for the compliment, but honestly, these skills suck to learn, so I’m mostly just fed up.”

What do you think? Is this story bizarre or too familiar to you? I was grateful that nobody agreed with her boyfriend, and I hope he sees his error. This internet story honestly united everyone, and that’s a rare occurrence.

This thread inspired this post.

His Wife Makes Substantially More Money But Refuses To Support His Elderly Parents

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A 47-year-old husband, the OP (original poster), turned to an online forum with his frustrations about his wife not pitching in to support his parents financially. He agrees it is not her responsibility, but she makes significantly more money than he does. She refused, and OP didn’t understand her reasoning or the hostility or shock he received from the forum. Here is his story.

A Couple Fights Over the Back-to-School Budget Despite Having a $2+ Million Net Worth

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The best marriages have difficulties, and many challenges often deal with financial situations that must be resolved.  Couples must have conversations about their money handling and deal with disputes when they occur to stay calm through years of potential misunderstanding.

Are You Being Too Courteous For Your Own Good? You May Be By Doing These Things

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Are you sometimes courteous to some people out of fear of offending them and worrying about what they think of you? Being respectful to others is a sign of good character, but you may be going too far. You may be helping others when you lack time to do your chores. Learn to say ‘no’ before committing to do things for others. You may be too polite for your good.

10 Things People Associated With Rich People When They Were Kids

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When we were kids, certain things always seemed to be associated with wealth and luxury. Let’s look at ten things members of an online forum, as kids, believed only belonged to the rich.

22 Dead Giveaways That Someone Grew Up Poor Long After Escaping Poverty

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Being poor is not a choice but often a reflection of society and should never be a mark of shame. Those who grew up poor have a mindset that is not easy to shake long after escaping poverty. The residual effects of feeling hunger and cold bring back memories that spurred gratitude, resourcefulness,  and nostalgia by some who shared their experiences on a popular online community, answering, What are dead giveaways that someone grew up poor?” I recognized similar incidents familiar to me, bringing back memories from my upbringing. 

This article appeared first on The Cents of Money.

2 thoughts on “Was Girlfriend A Hero For Fighting the Hierarchy To Get Her Boyfriend’s Medical Bill Down By 99%?”

  1. The girlfriend did the right thing with her boyfriend’s medical bills. These costs are out of control and now patients are being charged for items that they shouldn’t be. Please, please always check and question your medical bills and kudos to the girlfriend fantastic job

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