10 Things Hospital CEOs Won't Tell You

After media coverage about how they often accept lower payments from insurers while charging higher list prices to the uninsured, hospitals are now more open to bargaining. So how can you take advantage? For starters, many facilities have financial counselors who can set up no-interest payment plans or adjust prices based on financial need—all you have to do is ask. Or team up with an outfit such as North American Surgery—which pairs patients willing to pay up front with small hospitals willing to give discounts—and you could save up to 80 percent on common procedures like bypass surgery.

Kelly Proffitt, a 39-year-old teacher in Bassett, Va., knows the benefits of bargaining. In May, when her mother got a $12,000 bill from a hospital after spending almost a week there with a near-fatal blood infection, Proffitt hired a health-care advocate—a private individual, often with insurance experience, who helps tackle charges. Weeks later, the hospital offered to cut the bill by 80 percent. The advocate “found strings to pull we didn’t even know existed,” Proffitt says. To follow her example, visit www.billadvocates.com to find your own bill bargainer.