Every time you see a medical provider and charges are run through your insurance or Medicare, you will receive a statement from the insurance company as well as the doctor’s office. The statement from your insurance company is known as an insurance log or an Explanation of Benefits (EOB).

The EOB statement contains: your providers name, date of service (DOS), procedure codes, billed charges, any negotiated discounts or savings, any non-covered charges and allowed charges, message codes, explanations, and total due including how much they paid and how much is the patient’s responsibility.

Be sure that the doctors billing office recognized any discounts or savings negotiated by your insurance. Finally, make sure that your amount due to the doctor does not exceed the amount stated on your EOB.

Learning how to spot errors and overcharges will save you time and money. Paying attention and catching the errors can radically cut your bill. The insurance logs are not always correct, and for that matter, doctor offices make billing mistakes as well. I have found on numerous occasions that I have saved thousands of dollars by doing my own comparison and finding the mistakes, instead of just paying the bill and not questioning the amount listed. Chances of finding an error are high. Medical Billing Advocates of America estimates that 8 out of 10 medical bills have errors. No one should pay more than they truly owe for medical services, especially when it is not your mistake and you should be covered.

Author's Bio: 

Ms. Ingle is a Chronic Pain Educator for the Power of Pain Foundation, guest speaker for The American Pain Foundation’s Power Over Pain Campaign since 2007 and National Motivational speaker. She has been a pain patient since 2002 and began mentoring other patients through The RSDHope Organization in 2006.

Prior to her auto accident causing chronic pain and subsequent surgeries, Barby was a business owner, event coordinator and head coach at Washington State University for the entire spirit program. Barby has managed a staff of 40 employees and over 50 team members/volunteers. She performed administrative and legal tasks pertinent to managing a small business. Head trainer for all instructional and judging staff. She created and choreographed original program material. Educated and certified all cheer and dance coaches in the state of Washington running up to 25 conferences a year. Barby prepared speeches, tests, manuals and performed presentations.

Barby had been speaking at charity events, awards ceremonies, special groups and all kinds of public venues for 17 years as part of her job as a Collegiate Head Coach, business owner and now as a patient advocate. She graduated from the George Mason University in 1994 with a degree in Social Psychology. Ms. Ingle uses her skills from Cheerleading to inspire and motivate patients to be self advocates and offers tips and tools for patients, caretakers and healthcare professionals. Honors include 2003 who’s who of U.S. Cheerleading coach’s honoree, 2004 Cheer LTD. Coach of the year nominee, Teams ranked nationally in the top 10, coached at the Sun Bowl and two Rose Bowls. Barby has also served as a National speaker, Author of the Cheertec Coaches' Handbook; six part DVD Series on aspects of cheerleading, RSD in Me! A Patient And Caregivers Guide To Dealing With RSD And Other Chronic Pain Conditions. She is also a contributor to Cheerleader! An American Icon and CO-Arthur of The Wisdom of Ingle.