Hospitals

Understanding Your Hospital Bill

Hospital bills can be confusing. There are three different types of hospital bills that you might receive: summary bill, itemized bill, billing statement

NOTE: In addition to your hospital bill, you may receive separate bills from your physician(s): Emegency Physicians (care provided in ED), Radiologists (imaging services), Consulting Physicians (other phpysicians brought in by your physician), Pathologists (laboratory and pathlogy test(s)), Anesthesiologists (surgical procedures) and Surgeons.

Explanation of Benefits (EOB), or a statement from your health insurance, identifies the amount you owe for your hospital visit or outpatient procedure and what benefits were paid by your insurance on your behalf.

Out-of-Pocket Costsёor “patient responsibility” is the amount you owe for the hospital visit or outpatient procedure. If you are insured, patient responsibilities are outlined in your health insurance policy and typically include a deductible, coinsurance and/or copayment. Many hospitals request that the patient responsibility be paid upon discharge. If you are unable to pay at that time, you should inform the hospital's patient billing office to make payment arrangements. Note that the unpaid balance might be subject to interest payments.

If you have two insurance policies providing hospital coverage, the primary plan must pay or provide its benefits as if the secondary plan(s) did not exist. A plan may consider the benefits paid or provided by another plan only when it is secondary to that other plan.

If you have questions about your hospital bill, please contact the hospital’s business office. You can find the hospital's phone number by using the Hospital Search Function.