x-post - Anyone ever negotiate a hospital bill?

Apologies in advance if cross posting isn't allowed. I wasn't sure which forum to post it in.

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A couple of months ago my year old daughter had a high fever on a Thursday, but she was eating and acting normally, so we decided to just monitor the situation. That Sunday her fever was minor but she was very quiet and didn't want to eat. We called the answering service for her pediatrician and we were told to bring her to the ER.
We went to the ER and she was examined by a doctor, when we told the doctor that she just turned 1 and had her 1 year vaccinations, the doctor said that the fever was caused by the vaccination and not to worry.

Fast forward a month and we get a bill for over $4,000!
$300 - physician's fee
$200 - urine test (they tested to see if she had an infection)
$180 - copay
$3800 - facility fee for using the hospital (insurance knocked it down to $3,600 as the negotiated fee, lol)

Since we have a high deductible plan (learned our lesson) none of this is covered by insurance.
I was expecting a $500 fee, and I was fine with that, but I think the amount charged is crazy.

I called my insurance company and was told:
The billing is done correctly (all they can do is handle the billing, they have nothing to do with the amount billed)
I am responsible for everything since I did not reach my deductible

I called the hospital and they say that is the normal fee for using the facility

I always hear people say they called the hospital and got their bills lowered, how did you accomplish this?

Thank you

x-post - Anyone ever negotiate a hospital bill?

I work in a hospital and I have never seen a 'facility fee' like that before in my life.
I never personally negotiated a bill before BUT there is only an allowed amount they are allowed to charge you. I would contact your insurance carrier again and ask them IF this was covered what what they have paid? Trust me they weren't paying $3600. Insurance companies do not allow that high.
There is an allowed amount that an insurance company is allowed to charge, BUT theres an allowed amount the carrier will pay. Everything else gets written off.

1 as a courtesy since its coming out of pocket they should only charge you what your insurance carrier would pay.
2. as another courtesy considering they did NOTHING and its for a 1 year old I would DEF argue that point.
3 I would argue the point that you don't have that type of $ and need to have it lowered.
By law they cant charge you more just because your paying out of pocket there should be an allowed amount.

x-post - Anyone ever negotiate a hospital bill?

Thanks for the post.

>>
I would contact your insurance carrier again and ask them IF this was covered what what they have paid? Trust me they weren't paying $3600.
>>

When I spoke with my insurance company previously it went like this:
me - Isn't there a negotiated rate?
them - yes, it is $3600. They originally charged $3800, but the negotiated rate is $3600

what the heck! lol.

But who would I talk #1 and #2 with?
The billing number I called goes to a third party billing service, so they have no power/don't care about the situation.

Thanks

x-post - Anyone ever negotiate a hospital bill?

I had a high deductible. I called the hospital and tried to dispute a $500 charge for an ultrasound. Everywhere else we went only charged $50 so their fee was ridiculous. They would not waiver. I called daily for two weeks. Finally I resigned to the fact that I'd need to pay. When I called, they said all oop patients get a 20% discount. That would have been nice to know from the beginning....