How can you manage a $6,000 out-of-network ambulance bill?

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How can you handle a $6,000 out-of-network ambulance bill?

Advice for dealing with ~$6000 in out-of-network ambulance costs?

Insurance

My newborn sons had separate ambulance trips in October that ended up being out-of-network.

One has a heart condition and needed to be taken from home to the hospital after his heart rate was around 280 with SVT. The remaining balance after insurance was about $2,500.

His twin brother had RSV shortly after (they both got it) and he coded in the ER, had to be intubated, and was transported on a ventilator from that ER to a better NICU 40 minutes away. That cost $3,500 after insurance.

I’m a healthcare attorney and advise on the No Surprises Act, so I know ground ambulances aren’t covered by it and I can be balance billed. However, at 29, I’m less experienced in negotiating or reducing my own insurance determinations or medical bills.

Right now, my plan is to call my insurance to see if they can do anything more, and then contact the ambulance billing company to discuss an affordable payment plan.

Does anyone have any advice?

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Negotiate persistently. When you call, they often follow a script and may suggest a payment plan. If that doesn’t suit you, explain you had no alternative for the ambulance choice. Offer to pay half immediately over the phone.

That’s how I managed to reduce a $5,000 bill for a ninety-minute private ambulance ride from one hospital to another down to $2,500.