Stop Overpaying for
Dental Care

Why you need to audit your medical bill

Medical billing errors are shockingly common. Studies estimate that 30-80% of medical bills contain mistakes. These errors almost always favor the hospital, not you.

An itemized bill review can save you hundreds or thousands of dollars. But you need to know what to look for.

Duplicate charges

One of the most common errors is being charged twice for the same service. Look for identical CPT codes appearing multiple times when you only received the service once.

Example: Being charged for two CT scans when you only had one.

Upcoding

Upcoding occurs when a provider bills for a more expensive service than what was actually performed. This is technically fraud, but it happens regularly.

• Office visits: Charged 99215 (complex visit) instead of 99213 (moderate visit).
• ER visits: Charged 99285 (critical) instead of 99283 (moderate).
• Procedures: Billed for a more complex version of the procedure.

Unbundling

Some services should be billed together at a lower rate. Unbundling is when providers bill each component separately to charge more.

Example: Lab tests that should be billed as a panel are billed individually, costing you more.

Other common errors

Beyond the major categories, watch for these issues:

• Operating room time overbilling (rounded up excessively).
• Charges for canceled procedures or tests.
• Wrong patient information leading to insurance issues.
• Balance billing for services that should be covered.