hunter@hxxntrr
the hospital you were born in charged your mother $40 for the first time she held you
it's called "skin-to-skin contact" and there's a billing code for it. CPT 99460. your mother went through labor, pushed a human being out of her body, and the hospital charged her forty dollars for the privilege of touching her own child
this is the same billing system that's destroying your credit score right now
a single ER visit generates 15-40 individual line items. each one has a CPT code. each code has a chargemaster price set by the hospital. and that chargemaster is a fictional document that has no connection to the actual cost of anything
a bag of IV saline: hospital cost $0.86, chargemaster price $400-$900
a single acetaminophen tablet (tylenol): hospital cost $0.02, chargemaster price $15-$50
a basic blood panel: lab cost $12, chargemaster price $200-$1,100
a CT scan: equipment cost per scan ~$50, chargemaster price $3,000-$10,000
every single one of these inflated charges becomes a "debt" when you don't pay. and that debt gets sold to a collector for 2-4 cents on the dollar. and that collector puts it on your credit report as if you actually owe $47 for a tylenol tablet
there are 100 million americans carrying medical debt right now. roughly 1 in 3 adults. it's the #1 cause of collections on credit reports and the #1 reason people file bankruptcy in this country
and most of it is made up numbers from a document nobody was supposed to see
the play:
for any medical bill over $1,000, ALWAYS request the itemized bill first. not the summary bill they send you (one big number designed to scare you into paying). the line-by-line itemized version with CPT codes for every charge
google each CPT code against the fair market rate at fairhealthconsumer.org. compare what the hospital charged versus what the procedure actually costs in your geographic area. you will find overcharges on almost every bill. sometimes 3x. sometimes 10x
once you have the itemized bill, call the hospital billing department and say this:
"i'm reviewing my itemized charges and i've identified several line items that significantly exceed fair market rates for my area. i'd like to discuss an adjustment before this goes any further. i also want to confirm whether i qualify for your financial assistance program under your charity care policy"
every nonprofit hospital in america (which is most of them) is legally required to have a financial assistance policy under Section 501(r) of the Internal Revenue Code. if your income falls below a certain threshold relative to the federal poverty level (usually 200-400% FPL), the hospital must reduce or eliminate your bill entirely. they are required by law to have this program and required to tell you about it
most don't tell you about it. because every dollar you pay in full is a dollar they don't have to write off
if the bill has already gone to collections:
the collector bought inflated chargemaster numbers for pennies. they can't produce the original itemized bill. they can't explain the CPT codes. they can't verify the charges are accurate. they bought a spreadsheet
send the validation letter under FDCPA 809. demand the original itemized statement with CPT codes, the payment history showing insurance adjustments, and proof the remaining balance is accurate after all insurance payments and contractual adjustments
collectors almost never have this level of documentation for medical accounts. the hospital sold the debt and moved on. the paperwork went with it
a woman came to us with $67,000 in medical collections across three hospital visits. we requested itemized bills for all three. found $23,000 in duplicate charges, upcoded procedures, and facility fees that were already included in the surgeon's bill. disputed the collections using the itemized discrepancies as evidence. two collectors couldn't validate at all. the third settled for $4,200 on a $31,000 account
she went from $67,000 in medical debt to $4,200 in total payments. her score went from 541 to 718 in 90 days. she bought a house 6 months later
the hospital charged your mom $40 to hold you. and they'll charge you $50 for a tylenol today. and they'll put both on your credit report if you don't pay. and they'll sell it for pennies to a collector who'll harass you for years
the entire system runs on your ignorance. the billing, the collections, the reporting. every layer depends on you never looking at the itemized charges and never questioning the numbers
we look at the numbers. we question everything. and we get the bullshit off your credit report. link in bio
