NYU Langone Bills: How to Reach Billing and Apply for Assistance

Why one visit produces several bills

At an academic medical center the hospital and the physician groups are frequently separate billing entities. A single emergency visit can generate a facility bill from the hospital, a professional bill from the treating physician’s group, and further bills from radiology, pathology or anesthesia.

This matters procedurally: a financial assistance approval from the hospital does not automatically cover the physician bills. Ask, for each bill you receive, which entity issued it and whether that entity has its own assistance program. It is tedious and it is where most of the money is.

What to say when you call

Have the account number and the date of service in front of you.

“I’m calling about account [number]. Two things. First, please send me the financial assistance application and the hospital’s financial assistance policy. Second, please send an itemized bill for this account. And please note that a financial assistance application is pending, so collection activity should pause.”

Then write down the date, the name of the person you spoke to, and what they said. Everything after this point turns on documentation.

The thresholds that apply regardless of which hospital

Each additional person adds $5,680 to 100% FPL. Annual figures.

Two rules that decide cases: immigration status may not be considered, and you can apply at any point in the collection process — including after the account has gone to an agency. Full procedure.

Check the bill itself before you pay any of it

The number on an uninsured bill is built from chargemaster rates — the hospital’s internal list price, which almost nobody pays. Before negotiating from it, look for the ordinary errors:

• Services on the itemized bill you don’t remember receiving
• Duplicate line items on the same date
• A room charge for a day you were discharged in the morning
• Supplies billed individually that are normally bundled
• For insured patients: a bill higher than the “patient responsibility” line on your explanation of benefits

Federal price transparency rules require hospitals to publish machine-readable files of their standard and negotiated charges. For a planned procedure, that file is the only place the real number lives.

If nothing moves

• Ask for the denial or the decision in writing, with the criteria applied.
• The New York State Department of Health takes complaints about hospital financial assistance practices.
• Legal services organizations across the city handle medical debt at no cost, and they are the right call the moment a lawsuit, a lien or wage garnishment appears.