'He told me I went way too far': Mastermind fights to get boyfriend's medical bill reduced from $5K to $26

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Dec 8, 2022 8:00 AM EST

This woman really is a Christmas miracle. After taking it upon herself to take action and send approximately 60 emails to all the influential people associated with this hospital, she got her boyfriend's astronomical bill from the emergency room down from 5 grand to 26 literal dollars. 

 

This thread was posted to Reddit's r/AmITheA**hole subreddit by u/dingussdaisy, who really should start a business doing this because, well, she's just that good. Except here's where things start to make no sense. Her boyfriend, who should be worshipping her at this point, started to get paranoid and upset, feeling that she had gone way too far to get this bill significantly reduced. Talk about ungrateful! He needs to get over himself and be thankful he has someone with the willpower to follow through on this. 

 

Keep scrolling below to get the full play-by-play on how she did it. For more stories, check out this post about technicians who banded together against their bosses for some good old-fashioned malicious compliance.

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  • 01
    Font - BULANCE "Well, once I'd done all that [...] they reduced the bill... from $5000 to $26."
    via Erik Mclean
  • 02
    Font - AITA for how I fought my boyfriend's medical bill, going "too far"? My boyfriend had to go to the ER after a accident, and he got a truly ridiculous bill back. I offered to fight the bill for her because I've done it before, and he said sure. I went all-out, because honestly if we were out 5 grand, after insurance, that would Kup our holiday plans pretty bad.
    via u/dingussdaisy
  • 03
    Font - So I... • had him call the hospital and authorize me to handle his bill and access his medical records. • got an itemized bill and compared the prices for each code to the fair prices • called billing to dispute the bill, but was told that billing only collects bills, I'd need to contact admin to dispute
    via u/dingussdaisy
  • 04
    Font - • bounced around a call center for hours trying to get someone qualified for bill disputes, and getting nowhere who was actually google and linkedin searched for the hospital board of directors and upper management got 30 emails of the most influential people at the hospital, plus the hospital's investors
    via u/dingussdaisy
  • 05
    Font - • every day would send a few emails, working my way up the chain, and writing an (increasingly long) email describing how they billed my "client" at 7 times over the fair price for services rendered, and how their billing department, customer service department, and the growing list of management I'd emailed, had failed to address the issue.
    via u/dingussdaisy
  • 06
    Font - escalated the emails until I was writing the director-level staff with the entire board of directors and a number of outside investors CC'd, asking for a written statement regarding their justification for billing at a rate 7 times higher than the national average, for commensurate services to what is available at other hospitals. And sternly laying out the failures to appropriately respond, at every level of the company.
    via u/dingussdaisy
  • 07
    Font - Well, once I'd done all that (which was honestly only like 15 minutes a day) they reduced the bill... From $5000 to $26. Yep, twenty-six dollars. Well, I told my boyfriend the good news, and he was at first overjoyed and blown away, like literally jumping up and down and hugging me and saying I was literally a Christmas miracle.
    via u/dingussdaisy
  • 08
    Font - But then when he asked how I did it, I said it wasn't too hard, I just had to send a couple emails each day. He was curious what I'd said, and I handed him my phone. He started to get stressed, and flipping back through other emails. Which there were like 60 of. He told me I went way too far, he was expecting me to dispute through their billing department or something normal and reasonable like that, not internet stalk every single manager and board member and investor and harass them int
    via u/dingussdaisy
  • 09
    Font - I was frustrated because I'd just saved us 5 grand, actually made it possible for us to afford a nice Christmas and save some money, and he was mad at me because I'd been a bit of a hardes? I was furious, and he was also mad at me, saying he authorized me to dispute a bill, not basically threaten and harass a whole hospital for weeks. AITA for how I got my boyfriend's medical bills dropped? 1
    via u/dingussdaisy
  • 10
    Font - shuckyducked. 17 hr. ago 3 & 8 More You are a friggin' rock star and should be a professional advocate for those who get ripped off in healthcare like this. Your boyfriend is so unappreciative and is clearly clueless on how diligent you need to be to challenge an erroneous bill. When the hospital, doctors, and insurance companies are unwilling to help you resolve their errors, what else are you supposed to do? So many people just quit and either pay the massive bill or go into debt. Tell
    via u/dingussdaisy
  • 11
    Font - BeneLeit 17 hr. ago NTA and I think you need to start a business doing this for others. 12.3k Reply
    via u/dingussdaisy
  • 12
    Font - WholeAd2742 - 18 hr. ago S NTA. Yes, you went above and beyond tracking down folks, but for-profit hospitals are extremely predatory 7.9k Reply Share
    via u/dingussdaisy
  • 13
    Font - Bruhogan 16 hr. ago Yeah, hospital billing is intentionally screwed up. It's actually insane. 1.3k Reply
    via u/dingussdaisy
  • 14
    Font - 01 PurpleMarsAlien 17 hr. ago ΝΤΑ Hospital billing is intentionally screwed up and difficult to address issues. When I gave birth to my kid 16 years ago, they double- billed everything and it took almost A YEAR to get it all straightened out. I pretty much had to schedule hours into my weekly schedule to deal with contesting collections, getting it sent back to billing, dealing with some other person in billing, and etc. With a newborn through 1yo, and while I was also working full-time.
    via u/dingussdaisy
  • 15
    Font - CallMeLickleChitten 17 hr. ago ΝΤΑ Seriously? Down to 26$ and he is mad at you? You are a genius in my book. Do a shady mechanic next 4.8k Reply Share
    via u/dingussdaisy
  • 16
    Font - StAlvis 18 hr. ago Sultan of Sphincter [887] INFO He started to get stressed .... why? What did he express that he thinks is going to happen as a result of this? 3.0k Reply Share
    via u/dingussdaisy
  • 17
    Font - dingussdaisy OP. 17 hr. ago He felt like it was way too far, to basically wtite an email throwing like 20 employees and departments under the bus for mismanagement, and CC'ing the whole board of directors, and CEOs, and PR departments of companies that invested in the hospital.
    via u/dingussdaisy
  • 18
    Font - He felt like I was being really threatening, like by emailing the investors and their PR teams, and writing in legal-ese that I wanted a written justification of their billing structure, specifically addressing the fact that a service that is on average under $500 was billed at a rate 7 times higher... He felt like I was looking like I was about to threaten them with either legal action or a PR / financial disaster, so they just paid me off to STFU. Which to be fair isn't a bad read of wh
    via u/dingussdaisy
  • 19
    Font - Asshole-not-scumbag 17 hr. ago I honestly can't believe you got them to send an itemized bill. I recently fought with three separate people none would send me one 1.7k Reply Share
    via u/dingussdaisy
  • 20
    Font - dingussdaisy OP. 17 hr. ago It's your legal right! At least if you're in the US. Maybe request it in writing, and reference the law that entitles you to it? Good luck! 1.7k Reply Share
    via u/dingussdaisy
  • 21
    Font - Dearic75 17 hr. ago Please tell me this isn't real. The idea someone could be mad at you for sticking up for them. NTA. Majorly. Major corporations and especially medial ones these days rely on people not having the knowledge and time to contest them. If they truly thought they were entitled to it, they would have just said so and hung up. They don't write off thousands of dollars because you were a pest. 1.0k Reply Share
    via u/dingussdaisy

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