Medical billing and health insurance systems in the U.S. are complex, and many patients have difficulty navigating them. Below are some helpful tips from our patient advocacy team to help guide you through the system: ● Get familiar with your insurance coverage and out-of-pocket costs: ensure you know what the copays, coinsurance, and deductibles will be. Don't hesitate to call the insurer and ask for a walk through of all out-of-pocket costs. ● Check whether the specifics of your care are covered: enquire if providers you need to see are in-network and whether any part of the treatment needs to be preauthorized. If the drug you want isn't covered by your insurance, ask whether the drugmaker has a patient assistance program; many do, though eligibility requirements vary. ● Get a cost estimate: If you're uninsured, ask for a cost estimate in advance. The federal No Surprises Act, which took effect in January, requires providers to give uninsured patients "good faith" estimates of what planned care will cost. ● Ask for line items of the costs for every service, prescription, or treatment you receive. Never assume that just because insurance covers one part of your treatment, that goes for everything else. ● Check for double billing: Go through each item on your bill - it’s not infrequent for something to be double-billed - it is worth checking to make sure you weren't overcharged. ● Negotiate with the hospital directly: Consumer advocates said people mistakenly think medical costs are fixed and nonnegotiable. ●Experts warn against using credit cards offered by dentists, hospitals, and doctors' offices to pay medical charges. This will lump fees with any other form of consumer debt — the same as if you overspent on clothes or a luxury SUV. That's one reason medical debt is often underreported.