Dr. Virgie Bright Ellington Demystifies Medical Bills | Ep. 228

• Dr. Virgie defines medical financial literacy as knowing how to avoid becoming a cost victim of the U.S. healthcare system. She explains the connection between medical debt, bankruptcy, and divorce, noting that medical bills are the #1 cause of debt and bankruptcy in America.

Medical bills are the number one cause of debt and bankruptcy... And if you think about, well, if medical bills are the number one cause of debt, what's the number one cause of divorce? Money stresses, money disagreements, financial problems.

• Dr. Virgie outlines the only right way to pay a medical bill:

• Call the provider and ask for a bill showing CPT codes
• If they resist, cite HIPAA federal law and ask to speak with someone who can help

• Google each CPT code to find what Medicare pays
• This represents the fair, lowest retail price for that service

• Offer to pay the Medicare total amount
• Request a payment plan within your budget
• Stick to your budget - don't agree to unaffordable monthly payments

• Dr. Virgie explains that HIPAA gives patients ownership of all records pertaining to their care, including financial records. Providers often resist providing CPT-coded bills because they can hide inflated charges without them.

HIPAA federal law... was supposed to protect every person in the United States who has to get medical care to be able to take ownership... And that includes, of course, your medical records, but any records pertaining to your care, including financial records.

• For those with insurance who want to verify billing without calling providers, Dr. Virgie recommends requesting an Explanation of Benefits (EOB) from your insurance company, which always includes CPT codes and is often faster to obtain.

• Dr. Virgie directs listeners to crushmedicaldebt.com for a free checklist of the three steps and additional resources for managing medical expenses.