One Way to Lower Your Doctors Bill

In his book, “Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel: 100 Dirty Little Money-Grubbing Secrets,” Consumerist.com’s contributing editor Phil Villarreal shares one way to get a lower medical bill.

Last year, he was able to knock $1,000 off the $4,000 price of his daughter’s birth simply by asking the hospital, obstetrician, anesthesiologist and pediatrician to each reduce their bills by 25 percent if I paid the bill in full over the phone.

“It seems the medical establishment is so used to getting stiffed by patients who either declare bankruptcy or just flat-out refuse to pay, that they’ll give up one in the bush for three in the hand,” Mr. Villarreal wrote in his book.

What was his exact script? Here it is.

“Hey, my friend told me that if I offer to pay the bill in full over the phone, I get a 25 percent discount.” And the response he generally received was “O.K.” “It was the same conversation with the doctors as it was with the hospital. There was no negotiation whatsoever. Just standard procedure,” Mr. Villarreal said by e-mail.

Good Luck and I hope it saves you some money.