Ep. 23 Money & Mindset - Stop Paying Full Price: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Negotiating Medical Bills

Real talk time, friend - did you know you can negotiate almost every single medical bill you receive? If that surprises you, you’re not alone, and that’s exactly why Sarah is breaking it all down in this episode.

In this episode, Sarah pulls back the curtain on the healthcare billing system, sharing the hard truth: it was not designed with YOUR best interest in mind. That means the responsibility falls on YOU to advocate for yourself - and the good news is, you absolutely can. Sarah walks you through the exact steps she uses herself (yes, she spent 45 minutes on the phone negotiating her own medical bills!) and breaks down a clear, actionable framework anyone can follow.

Whether you have insurance or not, whether the bill is $200 or $20,000, you have more power than you think. From requesting an itemized statement to confidently making a counter-offer, Sarah covers it all with her signature blend of straight talk, personal stories, and practical guidance.

This episode is a must-listen if you’ve ever opened a medical bill, felt your stomach drop, and had no idea what to do next. Spoiler: the answer is never just to pay it without asking questions first.

What You Will Learn

• Why the healthcare billing system is NOT designed with your best interest in mind - and what that means for you as a patient
• Why you should NEVER pay a medical bill without attempting to negotiate first (yes, even with insurance!)
• How to request an itemized statement and why reviewing every line item can save you hundreds (or thousands) of dollars
• Why knowing your numbers and having a clear money plan is your secret weapon at the negotiating table
• How to approach medical billing departments with confidence, friendliness, and a plan - without anxiety or overwhelm
• What to ask about programs, discounts, and financial assistance options that most hospitals will never proactively tell you about
• How to negotiate a reduced lump-sum payment and make an offer they’ll actually accept
• Why getting everything in writing is non-negotiable (pun intended)
• How a Peace of Mind Fund and a medical sinking fund fit into your bigger financial picture
• Sarah’s personal story of spending 45 minutes on the phone—and why every minute was worth it

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:45

If you're ready to design a life, you can really find confidence and wake up every day feeling like you're exactly where you're meant to be, then you're in the right place. So grab your favorite drink, settle in, and let's start traveling towards wealth one story at a time. Hey, welcome back. Today we're gonna talk about something that I'm currently doing, but I have discovered that so many people don't know that it's even a thing, didn't know that it was possible, and that is negotiating medical expenses. I encourage people to never ever pay a medical expense without calling to negotiate it. And this is for many reasons. I'm not gonna get on to my full soapbox here when it comes to medical expenses and big pharma and everything else. But here's what I will say it is the system is not designed with your best interest in mind, all right? It's designed for their best interest in mind. So when you're going into listening to this episode, when you are hearing me talk about things, when you are maybe feeling a little bit unsure or a little bit of fear about calling and negotiating your medical expenses, remember that you are doing this to protect yourself, that you have to be the one that's advocating for you. And we want to make sure that you are financially healthy, all right? They, nothing they do, nothing the that the insurance company or the doctor's office billing and everything is done with your best interest in mind. So let's talk about negotiating medical expenses. Again, I work with all of my one-to-one clients with this because they think it's so important and it's something that I want to teach you and teach them how to do and to feel comfortable with, but it's also about getting that information out there. Again, so many people that I talk to aren't aware that this is a thing, that you can do that. So much of the time we're just told, oh, just call and put it on a payment plan. Oh, you can put your medical expenses on a payment plan and there's zero interest. That's all fine and dandy, and that may work in some situations, but we want to negotiate. We want to get your bill as low as possible. So I'm gonna go through some of the steps, and truthfully, some of this might not be fully in order because as I don't put a full outline together for these podcast episodes. This is real talk, just what's going through my mind, what conversations I'm having, what I'm doing currently with my clients. And so this isn't a full crazy professionally edited podcast. This is me coming at you in real time with real life situations. So if you have a specific situation that or you've got questions or you want to dig in a little bit and learn more about negotiating medical expenses, send me an email. If we're connected on socials, send me a message, reach out, go through the website, schedule time, or reach out to me and let's chat. All right. So negotiating medical expenses works whether you have insurance or not. It doesn't matter. I hear a lot of times people will tell me, Sarah, I've got insurance, so I it doesn't matter. Great, I'm happy that you have insurance. That doesn't mean that we cannot negotiate your medical expenses, all right? I will also say that there is nuance to everybody's situations, and the information I'm sharing with you today are some good pointers, some good tips to use, things for you to be thinking about. But there is nuance with every situation, every institution has different regulations and standards and what they can offer and what they can't. All right, so just know that I'm sharing my personal experience and that of some of my clients, but this is a great starting point to give you some information. But again, if you want to dig in really deep, send me a message and we will chat. First things first. I always want you to, when you receive your bill, call the institution that is sending you that bill, and I want you to ask for an itemized statement. Right? Itemized statement for several reasons. Number one, I want you to go through your itemized statement with a tooth comb. Fine toothed comb. I want you to see what they're charging you for. I want you to look at how much are they charging you for ibuprofen? Have they double billed? Is there something on your bill that you in fact did not receive? Do you have questions about charges that are on there? That impacts your balance due. So having an itemized statement so you can go through the numbers, through everything, and make sure that everything in fact does belong to you, that you understand what those charges are. That is the first thing that I want you to do. So don't just get a bill, freak out with a balance, and try and decide, oh my gosh, I don't know how I'm gonna pay this and put it off. No, take action with it first thing. The more time you give yourself here, the more leeway and more options you have. So let me repeat that. Don't put your bill in a pile on top of the microwave and forget about it. Okay, I want you to open that bill, I want you to look at it, and I want you to say, Oh, I'm gonna call them right now or as soon as they open in the morning, and I'm going to ask for an itemized statement. Okay, so take action. The sooner you take action, the more options you have. Okay, so that's first things first. Itemized statement, go through it. All right. Next thing I want you to do is I want you to look at what does your money plan look like? What discretionary funds do you have? You need to know how much exactly how much money you've got to put towards this bill. You need to know exactly when you can make the payment, you need to know your numbers. If you don't know your numbers, this becomes less viable. This becomes a less viable option for you. All right. So know your numbers. Have a good money plan so you know exactly how much money you have available to make a payment, to so you can negotiate. Negotiation means you understand what it is that you're offering, what you're willing to do, what you're able to do, and you're listening to them on what their position is, what they're willing and able to do as well. So if you don't have your side of the negotiation, you're you don't have your information ready to go, then your negotiation techniques are gonna fall real short. They're not gonna honor it because you can't live up to your side of the bargain. Have a good money plan. Know exactly how much and when you can make a payment. I'm gonna sidebar here for a second. This is why your money plan becomes so important and why I talk so much about it. Having a good solid money plan allows for these things to take place. Your peace of mind fund can help. Your medical sinking fund, which frankly most people should have. If you don't, you need to be scheduling a consultation with me so we can be talking about these things. You should have a medical fund in your money plan. Most people that I work with don't have one, and medical expenses are one of the top four things that derail their money, their budgets each month. So part of what I talk about all the time is protecting yourself and having a good money plan that is protection for you includes a medical fund, sinking fund, cash envelopes, what have you. All right. So your money plan needs to have those things: peace of mind fund, some type of medical account. All right. And knowing, again, exactly how much you have available, whether that's lump sum or maybe a couple of payments. We're gonna dig into why that matters here in a minute, but knowing your numbers, okay, having your money plan set aside so you know what you've got and how much you can pay, when you can pay it. All right. Thirdly, when you are calling to negotiate, be friendly. None of this is enjoyable. I don't enjoy doing it. I spent about 45 minutes this morning on the phone. I'm gonna go over some real nice real life numbers with you here in a minute. My own personal numbers from what I negotiated this morning. But I spent about 45 minutes on the phone negotiating some of these. Did I want to do it? Not necessarily. Did I enjoy doing it? No. I don't know why somewhere along the lines we decided or we thought that some of this money stuff should be really super fun and enjoyable. Fuck no! It's not. It's not, it's not meant to be, it shouldn't be. Get it out of your head. Some of it is I would rather be doing other things. But I also know that if I want my money to be working for me, I want to keep my money plan moving, and I want to get these medical bills paid off and do it with the least amount of stress. Guess what? I'm gonna put the fucking time aside to get on the phone and call. And I want you to be doing that as well. So pull it out of the pile that's sitting on the microwave. Pull out your phone and get on the phone and make a call. Alright. So, again, thirdly, is you've gone through your itemized statement. You when you're calling, you're gonna be friendly, and you know exactly how much you have and how much you can pay when you can pay it. Alright. So the truthfully, the friendlier, friendlier you are on the phone, the more help you're going to get. Alright? Number four. When you are calling, I ask, and it depends again, this is where more nuance comes into play. But I start asking some questions. Like, hey, I'm calling about my bill at such and such. And I will ask, are there any for my own personal bills or those with clients that I'm working with that do not have insurance? I say, are there any programs, even if you do have insurance, you can use this as well. But are there any programs available that maybe I can qualify for? Or what are the qualifications for programs that you have available to help cover these this bill, this balance? And then let them share. Okay, it doesn't mean that you have to take advantage of it. It doesn't mean that you're going to qualify, and it doesn't mean you're not going to qualify. It means that you're asking questions, you're open to hearing what they have to offer. All right. So ask them those questions. And then if they say, Oh, you might qualify, or I can send out an application, say yes, please do. And then you can say, I know you probably offer payment plans, but I'm wondering what are some other options. And this is where we get into the real nuanced situation here. So I'm gonna give you a couple of examples of things that have happened. Your situation might be different, but this is where it is so important to know exactly how much you can pay and when you can pay it. Okay, so when you're calling, for example, if your bill, and I actually had some clients, many clients do this, call in and they say, Listen, I understand my balance is $2,500. I don't have that money, but I'm wondering if I can pay you $1,500 tomorrow. Will you accept that as payment and mark then my bill as paid in full? Can we negotiate? Will you accept a payment of $1,500 as paid in full and you write the other portion of that bill off? Some institutions will do that. You then have to have that $1,500 available, and you have to be able to make that payment when you say you're going to make that payment. Okay, because you want to live up to your side of the bargain here. Sometimes I just go into it, depending and say, listen, I'd love to negotiate, I'd love to get this paid off. What if I pay in full today? What kind of a deal can you give me? You have to have this confidence to your voice, right? I know when I'm going into it that I don't want to pay any more than 50% of what the bill is. Sometimes I have to. Sometimes there's no more negotiation, but that's when I'm going into it. When I'm negotiating, I'm like, okay, I can pay 50% of this today. So when I'm asking, what can you do with this bill? If I paid in full today, what are some options that you can give me? Do you have a 50% discount if I pay in full today? Do you have a 75% discount if I pay in full today? Go in it with some confidence. Ask the question and then be quiet. Let them talk. Let them see what they can do for you. Right? I'm gonna go through again some of my numbers here in a minute, but this is very much what I did this morning on the phone. Calling some of these institutions that I have received bills from. So in the past just over about six weeks, I've had two ER visits. And my husband and I, we actually do not have health insurance. I'm not gonna go into why or why not. We've come up with another program. So we're we're enrolled in some health assistance program, which is pretty cool. It's not insurance, but I didn't have it well when I had these two ER visits. So even if I did have insurance, I have done this before. I do it with every medical expense I get. I call and I negotiate, right? This is also it's really important for you to understand what institution this is. Some places will give you a one time, like the life of your account, you get one time of to negotiate, right? So if it's a at a place that you feel like you're potentially never going to be a patient there again, that can be a really good option to take full advantage of a hefty discount that they're offering. If it's someplace that may or may not be a patient with again, this is where the nuance comes in. We might do some different types of negotiating negotiating techniques here. All right. My thought and theory is if you're working one-to-one with me, we're getting you to a better place financially with all the six pillars of finance. And so going forward, getting a really hefty discount while we love it, it won't, it's not necessarily like a make it or break it a deal for you. And so we'll probably take advantage of the higher discounts, the one-time bill reduction or the one-time bill write-off, we might take advantage of that now because we're building your money plan to allow you more flexibility in the future. Does that make sense? So ask what they're going to offer. Let me tell you, again, I did so this morning. So out of the two ER visits that I've had, these are my life numbers I'm going to share with you, two ER visits from what I've been billed for currently, I'm still waiting on one more bill from the actual ER department at one hospital. So currently, from five different, so in ER, an imaging, the physicians, and radiology. Okay, so five different bills I have received. Those total currently, balance owed at $7,993.82. Do I have that money? Yes. Do I want to spend all of that money? No. So I called and I negotiated. I have currently negotiated with three of the different institutions. Listen to these numbers, my friend. Listen to these numbers. All right. One bill that I received was for $1,860, and I negotiated it down to $372 if I paid it before the end of July. Paid it and it cleared and everything, right? So a couple of days ahead before the actual due date. So from $1,860, I negotiated it down to $372 paid in full. That's a $1,500 savings right there. I just saved myself $1,500 by calling and negotiating. Yes, please, more of that. Let me sidebar here for a second and give you a perspective on this. That $1,500 savings, it's not just money saved. It's money that I now have available to put towards something else. Right? It's money that I have now available to put towards maybe one of the other ER bills that they're they might not negotiate as well with or as as there might not be as huge of a significant. What am I trying to say? That $1,500 allows me to put that again towards another expense. So it's money saved, but it lets my dollar go farther. Right? That's how I want you to approach some of this. It's not just about saving, it's not about getting the best deal necessarily, it's not scarcity. This is, I've got X amount of dollars, so how can I make them go as far as humanly possible to take care of these expenses? That is millionaire and billionaire thinking. Right? It's looking ahead. How can I make the most of these dollars? How can I make them work for me? So that $1,500, that calling and negotiating, that $1,500 is really working for me because it lets me then put that money towards something else, right? Second bill that I called, it was for $93. And this one specifically said this it's a one-time offer, and we are willing to just write the entire bill off. So you owe zero dollars. And I asked the right questions. Will this show up on my credit report as a charge off, or are you going to show it as a paid in full zero balance and then you write it off? So this will not negatively affect my credit, my payment history. She said no. I said I want that in writing. So please email it and send it in the mail. I need that in writing, please. That's another key point. Always ask for it in writing. You need confirmation from them that if you pay X amount of dollars, that your bill will be marked paid in full based on your agreement, your negotiated agreement. All right. So I did that with the $1,860 knocked down to 372. I have to wait a couple of days for it to clear, and then I will call them again and say, please send. Me a new statement showing that my balance is zero balance, it's paid in full, everything is as it should be. So I will do that. Same thing with the $93. They are gonna write that off. I'm not likely to go back to that facility again, so it wasn't a big deal for me. And then they are sending me a new statement showing that the balance is zero. Not my responsibility, right? Third bill. The mount bill, the balance bill to me was $1,272. I negotiated it down to $636, paid in full by the end of the month, cleared. Paid in full, give it a few days to process. So that was a 50% savings. So all said and done, I saved about $15, $2,000, about $2,100 in these three institutions. Then again, that allows me to put that $2,100 towards another medical expense. It allows me to use my dollars and have them go as far as possible. Right? I will negotiate. I've left a message at one institution. I have not heard back from them. And I called the other one. They have not put the bill together. So I'm still waiting on that to hit my account or to hit my the balance owed to hit my account. Once that has been processed, I will be getting on the phone and I will be calling to negotiate those. So quick recap: ask for an itemized statement if you don't have one. That's the first thing. You want to make sure that everything you are being billed for is in fact your expense. You want to know. Number two, you want to know how much you have and when you can pay the bill. Number three, be friendly on the phone. Be friendly on the phone. You are asking them to help you. So be friendly. You're asking for assistance. Alright? Number four, ask about programs available. Alright. They may have some different programs available if you have insurance, even if you do not. There's some different options. Almost every medical institution has options available. So ask them about that. Number five, negotiate the balance. Hey, if I pay in full, will you accept 50%? Or how much if I can pay in full in the next two weeks, what kind of a discount can you give me on my bill? So ask for those discounts. It doesn't matter if you have insurance or not. This works both ways. Okay. Get everything in writing. Okay. Get your new agreement in writing. Ask them to repeat it back to you and ask that they send you an updated statement, a letter in the mail. Get it in writing. This is for your protection. Do not make a payment unless you get some of this in writing. Alright. I got some of this in writing. They were able to do it. Email me very quickly once I received that. Then I went ahead and paid it, and then I will call again and get an updated statement showing a zero balance. So that way all of my ducks are in a row. Alright. So get it in writing. That's very important. Alright. When you negotiate, ask questions. If you can't necessarily make a paid and full payment, one payment, ask them what their payment options are. You can still negotiate and still potentially make payments on something. It's just about asking the questions, knowing what is not going to put you in the hole, knowing what is going to allow you to actually live up to your agreement, but still allow you to put groceries on the table, right? So ask questions when you're chatting with them. This is something that I think people are not doing, and I want you to do it. I think you should be doing it. I think that there's a lot of they are overbilling because insurance, the way insurance works, the way medical institutions work, big pharma, nothing they do is in your best interest. So you have to advocate for yourself, and that's why you negotiate your medical expenses. If you have questions, if you want to talk further about this, you need to be sending me an email, send me a message on socials, go to the website and fill out the form, the contact me form. Let's talk. Schedule a consultation with me. Link is in the show notes. You should be negotiating because you want your dollars to go as far as possible. You want your money to be working for you, and that's why you negotiate your medical expenses. With that, I will say happy negotiating and goodbye for now, my friend. Thanks for joining me on Traveling Towards Wealth. If today's episode sparked something in you, I'd love for you to subscribe, leave a review, or share the show with a fellow free spirit who's ready to design a life they love. I'd love to connect with you. Book a free call with me to chat about your money, your dreams, and your next steps. No pressure, just a real conversation. You can find the link in the show notes or on my website. Follow me on Instagram or Facebook or behind the scenes already like money and a little bit of fear along the way. Remember, you're money, you're joining your own.