re: Negotiating a medical bill

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Do you haggle at restaurants or the dry cleaners?

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No, but I also know the fricking price up front at restaurants and dry cleaners.

I don't get a bill later with a BS charge I have to call back and have them "correct."
Example: My wife had a simple surgery. We paid the surgeon's bill and the hospital's bill. 6 months later we get a bill from the "surgery safety coordinator"---whatever the frick that is. I couldn't get an answer on what he does and why I'm being billed for it. It's almost as if people in hospitals walk around and are like "Is there a surgery going on here? Let me go get my invoice pad."

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As a provider, I think it's pretty frustrating that people think they don't have to pay their bills.

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I understand your frustration, sounding like you are an MD. We/most folks, don't have an issue with the MD. It's the hospitals and insurance companies with their "hocus pocus" charges and billing practices.

In fact, my MD, at the world renowned Cleveland Clinic system, is a salaried employee and when we have the conversation, outside of his office, about "if you were working for yourself and were performing a procedure on someone and they wanted to know how much for cash and how much billed thru insurance?" His answer, if the majority of patients were cash, most procedures would be 1/2 cost at least.

My mom went to a "nutrionist" and they ran some tests, stool sample and the likes and saw the doctor for 15 min. They charged her $10k, her insurance covered $8k and she told them to be happy they got $8k out of it.

It's absurd to me that a fee that large is not disclosed up front, particularly for voluntary tests.

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When my wife has our baby in a few weeks, I will be attempting to negotiate our portion of the bill down

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As you should. Remember, no one is forcing the provider to lower your cost. It's just business.

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Of course the hospital will negotiate with you if you tell them you can't afford the bill after the fact. They'd rather get 50 cents on the dollar rather than 25 cents on the dollar when they turn you over to collections.

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That is not how it works. The medical profession does not expect a customer paying out of pocket to pay the entire amount. That number is extremely inflated, and that is why it is so easy to get them to reduce the amount.