A listener’s doctor wanted her credit card info up front — before her appointment. She wondered: Do I need to give it to them? We did too.
After all, who wants the risk of being overcharged — and then having to fight for money back?
Experts gave us their best advice, including a couple of tricks to try, and a legal protection you may be able to rely on.
Meanwhile, Elisabeth Rosenthal, senior contributing editor at KFF Health News, filled us in on the rapid growth of medical debt as a financial product, including specialized credit cards and financing plans pushed by hospitals and other providers.
They can come with steep interest rates, and (surprise, surprise) the terms aren’t always spelled out clearly.
The federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been issuing reports, including a handy FAQ, but hasn’t taken enforcement action in a decade.
Here’s a transcript of this episode.
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A $229,000 medical bill goes to court
A doctor’s love letter to ‘the People’s Hospital’
Lessons from “wrestling with a giant”
The bill looked like BS. So she took it to small claims court.
Can They Freaking Do That?!? (2023 Edition)
2022 in Review
Like pulling teeth.
The best video about health insurance, ever
Health insurance post-Roe, and a grassroots network of abortion funds
A listener asks: Could NOT having insurance be a better deal?
Quick update from Arm and a Leg HQ
California plans to make its own insulin and sell it super-cheap. Really.
Congress fixed (a piece of) Medicare. It only took a few decades.
The Medical-bill "Negotiation Lab"
The Genetic Testing ‘Bait-and-Switch’
One ER Doc’s Journey Through the Pandemic — and the Health Care System
These docs are trying to kick private equity out of their ER
Credit Where It’s Due
“The Golden Age of Older Rectums” (for investors)
Sick Note, pt. 2: Dang
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