From the children’s book “Electric Ben: The Amazing Life and Times of Ben Franklin”
One of the benefits to budgeting even after you are debt-free is that it forces you to pay attention to the expenses you incur. If you get too relaxed, the little things will definitely add up and bite you.
I recently had an annual eye exam. We have no vision insurance, though the eye doctor likes to submit the claim to our health insurance in case there is something medical they will pick up (such as eye disease). Usually my bill just gets kicked right back because my eyes are healthy.
DH saw the claim pass through and noticed the high cost ($ 225 plus refraction) right away. We both recalled having an issue with their billing process in the past. We decided to wait until the eye doctor billed us, but you better believe we were fully ready to engage in battle!
The bill arrived yesterday and I had it open before I even got to the front door. They had billed us their “insurance” price because they had submitted the bill to medical insurance and it was denied. I called right away and politely said that I didn’t think that was the right price for “self-pay”. The billing clerk said she could take 30% off for self-pay, and in a minute I had recovered 80.00.
I wondered how many people get the bill and just pay it? Anytime you have any sort of medical or dental claim denied, it is absolutely worth it to inquire if you can have the “self-pay” price.
Have you ever asked for the self-pay price?
The Healthful Saver 
My insurance charged me more because I have a medical issue with one of my eyes. If I didn’t it would have been covered 100%. I contacted my eye doctor’s admin and as a one-time courtesy they wrote it off!
It seems there is potential for lots of confusion with eye exams and insurance. Next time I think I’ll just pay on the spot and not wait for them to submit something that isn’t going to be paid anyway. Glad they worked with you!
It’s definitely confusing!
Good idea to always check to make sure they charged you correctly.
I work in healthcare contracting, and even I get confused! I’m glad you were able to get $80 back!
For sure! I always try to be pleasant because usually the person you are talking to isn’t the source of the billing confusion.