AITA for how I fought my boyfriend’s medical bill, going “too far”?

A Reddit user challenged their boyfriend’s exorbitant $5,000 emergency room bill with a detailed and forceful strategy. They successfully lowered the bill to $26 by repeatedly emailing hospital executives, board members, and stakeholders.

Although he was thankful at first, the boyfriend later said the approach was too much and aggressive. Read the entire story below to determine whether the Redditor’s actions were excessive or justified.

‘ AITA for how I fought my boyfriend’s medical bill, going “too far”?’

My partner was forced to visit the emergency room following an incident, and the subsequent invoice he received was unbelievably high. I proposed to contest the charges on his behalf, drawing from my past experiences, and he agreed. I committed myself fully to the task since a surprise expense of $5,000, even after insurance coverage, would seriously compromise our vacation aspirations.

He instructed him to phone the hospital, granting me permission to manage his invoice and view his health information. I obtained a comprehensive invoice, comparing the costs for each code against reasonable market values. Upon contacting billing to challenge the invoice, I learned their role was solely bill collection; disputes required contacting administration.

I spent numerous hours being transferred between different agents at a call center, hoping to find someone capable of handling billing disagreements, but I was unsuccessful. I then used Google and LinkedIn to find the hospital’s board of directors and top-level executives. I obtained approximately 30 email addresses of the hospital’s key figures, in addition to those of the hospital’s financial backers.

Each day, I would send a handful of emails, moving up the hierarchy, and crafting an email (that grew longer each time) detailing how they overcharged my “client” by a factor of seven for the services provided, and how their billing, customer service, and the expanding roster of managers I’d contacted had all failed to resolve the matter.

– I kept pushing the issue via email until I found myself communicating with the director-level employees, the whole board, and several external investors. I demanded a formal declaration outlining why they charged a rate seven times greater than the national norm for comparable services offered at other medical facilities.

After clearly outlining the shortcomings in responsiveness across all echelons of the organization, a task that consumed a mere 15 minutes of my daily routine, they ultimately lowered the invoice… from $5,000 to a paltry $26. Yes, you read that right: twenty-six damn dollars.

I shared the positive update with my boyfriend, initially he was ecstatic and amazed; he was literally jumping around, embracing me, and calling me a Christmas miracle. However, upon inquiring about my method, I mentioned it wasn’t particularly challenging, requiring only a few daily emails.

He wondered about my statement, so I gave him my phone. He began to feel anxious, scrolling through numerous other emails, around sixty in total.

He said I had overdone it, that he thought I would handle the billing dispute through their official channels or some other conventional method, instead of tracking down every manager, board member, and investor online and pressuring them to cancel the charge.

I felt annoyed because I had just managed to save us $5,000, which in effect allowed us to have a good Christmas and put some money aside, yet he was angry with me for being somewhat strict?

I was seething, and he was equally angry with me, claiming he only gave me permission to question a charge, not to essentially menace and badger an entire hospital for weeks on end. Am I the unreasonable one for how I managed to get my boyfriend’s medical expenses dismissed?

Let’s dive into the reactions from Reddit:

shuckyducked −  You are a friggin’ rock star and should be a damn professional advocate for those who get ripped off in healthcare like this. Your boyfriend is so unappreciative and is clearly clueless on how diligent you need to be to challenge an erroneous bill.

When the medical facility, physicians, and insurance providers refuse to correct their mistakes, what recourse do you have? Many individuals simply give up and either settle the exorbitant invoice or accumulate debt. Inform your significant other that this is your sole Christmas present to him. It’s obvious that you’re not the wrongdoer.

BeneLeit −  NTA and I think you need to start a business doing this for others.

WholeAd2742 −  NTA. Yes, you went above and beyond tracking down folks, but for-profit hospitals are extremely predatory

PurpleMarsAlien −  NTA. Hospital billing is intentionally screwed up and difficult to address issues. When I gave birth to my kid 16 years ago, they double-billed everything and it took almost A YEAR to get it all straightened out.

I practically needed to dedicate chunks of my week to dispute debt collections, have them returned to the billing department, interact with various billing personnel, and so on. This was all while caring for a newborn to one-year-old and working a full-time job. Resolving the hospital bill felt like another part-time job. Your experience isn’t unusual.

[Reddit User] −  NTA. Seriously? Down to 26$ and he is mad at you? You are a genius in my book. Do a shady mechanic next 🤣

StAlvis −  INFO. He started to get stressed. … … *why?* What did he express that he thinks is going to happen as a result of this?

Asshole-not-scumbag −  I honestly can’t believe you got them to send an itemized bill. I recently fought with three separate people none would send me one

Kufat −  NTA, but you are too powerful and will probably be nerfed in the next patch.

Dearic75 −  Please tell me this isn’t real. The idea someone could be mad at you for sticking up for them. NTA. Majorly. Major corporations and especially medial ones these days rely on people not having the knowledge and time to contest them.

If they genuinely believed they deserved the money, they would have stated it plainly and ended the call. They’re not going to forgive thousands of dollars simply because you were annoying.

SonOfDadOfSam −  NTA – Does he think the hospital won’t like him anymore? You did just what you’re supposed to. Don’t get a response from level 1? Escalate to level 2 and so on. I love my wife for doing this so well because I’m terrible at it. lol

Was the user on Reddit excessively resolute, or was their action a required strategy to contest a biased setup? Would you take similar measures to contest a healthcare charge? Share your opinions and stories in the section below!