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News Articles: Series: Bill Of The Month

Since 2018, "Bill of the Month" has investigated medical bills totaling almost $6.3 million — including nearly $2.8 million that patients were expected to pay out-of-pocket. Cited at statehouses, the U.S. Capitol, and the White House, the series has led to changes in health policy.

'Bill of the Month': The series that dissects and slashes medical bills

Since 2018, readers and listeners sent KFF Health News-NPR's "Bill of the Month" thousands of questionable bills. Our crowdsourced investigation paved the way for landmark legislation and highlighted cost-saving strategies for all patients

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By:
  • Elisabeth Rosenthal and
  • KFF Health News staff
Caitlyn Mai underwent cochlear implant surgery with her insurer's approval, expecting it would be covered in full. Then she started getting bills for $139,000.

Her hearing implant was preapproved. But she still received multiple $139,000 bills

Even when patients double-check that their care is covered by insurance, health providers may send them bills as they haggle with insurers over reimbursement. It's stressful and annoying — but legal.

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By:
  • Elisabeth Rosenthal and
  • Dan Weissmann
In severe pain and uncertain of its cause, Tieqiao Zhang of Dallas says he didn’t want to wait for an appointment with his regular doctor, but he also wasn’t sure if he needed emergency care. He visited a clinic on the campus of Dallas’ largest public hospital — and was charged 10 times what he expected.

It’s called an urgent care emergency center — but which is it?

Suffering stomach pain, a Dallas man visited his local urgent care clinic — or so he thought, until he got a bill 10 times what he’d expected.

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By:
  • Renuka Rayasam and
  • Emily Siner
On the last full day of a Bahamas excursion, Vincent Wasney had three epileptic seizures. While being evacuated, he received a bill for expenses incurred during the cruise.

He fell ill on a cruise. Before he boarded the rescue boat, they handed him the bill

A man from Michigan was evacuated from a cruise ship after having seizures. First, he drained his bank account to pay his medical bills.

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By:
  • Bram Sable-Smith
When he arranged to undergo top surgery, Cass Smith-Collins of Las Vegas selected a surgeon touted as an early developer of the procedure who does not contract with insurance. "I had one shot to get the chest that I should have been born with, and I wasn't going to chance it to someone who was not an expert at his craft," he says.

Sign here? Financial agreements may leave doctors in the driver's seat

Agreeing to an out-of-network doctor's financial policy, which protects their ability to get paid and may be littered with confusing jargon, can create a binding contract that leaves a patient owing.

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By:
  • Katheryn Houghton and
  • Emily Siner
About two months after undergoing open-heart surgery, Sara England's infant son, Amari Vaca, was sick and struggling to breathe. Staff members at a local medical center in Salinas, California, arranged for him to be transferred to a different hospital via air ambulance.

A mom's $97,000 question: How was an air-ambulance ride not medically necessary?

There are legal safeguards to protect patients from big bills like out-of-network air-ambulance rides. But insurers may not pay if they decide the ride wasn't medically necessary.

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By:
  • Molly Castle Work
The $81,739.40 bill for her mother's air-ambulance ride arrived less than two weeks after she died, Alicia Wieberg said.

Her air-ambulance ride wasn't covered by Medicare. It will cost her family $81,739

A frugal Tennessee resident opted out of Medicare Part B, which carries $175 monthly premiums. Now her heirs face a huge bill for an air-ambulance ride.

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By:
  • Tony Leys and
  • Emily Siner
Chantal Panozzo and her husband, who live in the Chicago suburbs, expected their first routine colonoscopies would be free — fully covered by insurance as preventive care under federal law.

The colonoscopies were free but the 'surgical trays' came with $600 price tags

Health providers may bill however they choose, including in ways that could leave patients with unexpected bills for "free" care. Preventive care left an Illinois couple with "surgical tray" charges.

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By:
  • Samantha Liss and
  • Zach Dyer
Last year, Elyse Greenblatt of New York City scheduled a telehealth appointment through her usual health system to see if her nagging congestion was COVID-19. The appointment turned out to be nearly $700.

When a quick telehealth visit yields multiple surprises beyond a big bill

For the patient, it was a quick and inexpensive virtual appointment. Why it cost 10 times more than she expected became a mystery.

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By:
  • Darius Tahir and
  • Emily Siner
Reesha Ahmed of Venus, Texas, was billed nearly $2,400 for standard blood tests following her first prenatal checkup.

She was elated about her pregnancy. Then came a $2,400 bill for blood tests

Convenient as it may be, beware of getting your blood drawn at a hospital. The cost could be much higher than at an independent lab, and your insurance might not cover it all.

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By:
  • Rachana Pradhan and
  • Emily Siner
Christine Rogers of Wake Forest, North Carolina, was asked to complete a mental health questionnaire as part of her annual physical. A brief conversation with her doctor landed her with a charge for a separate consultation.

She talked about depression at a checkup — and got billed for two visits

Completing a routine depression screening questionnaire during an annual checkup is cost-free under federal law. But, as one woman discovered, answering a doctor's follow-up questions might not be.

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By:
  • Julie Appleby and
  • Stephanie O'Neill
Emily Gebel was diagnosed with breast cancer in early 2022. After Gebel moved her treatment from Seattle to Alaska, where she lived, she discovered it was priced much higher in her home state.

She received chemo in two states. Why did it cost so much more in Alaska?

A breast cancer patient who received similar treatments in two states saw significant differences in cost, illuminating how care in remote areas can come with a stiffer price tag.

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By:
  • Arielle Zionts

She paid her husband's hospital bill. A year after his death, they wanted more money

Eloise Reynolds encountered a perplexing reality in medical billing: Providers can come after patients for more money well after a bill has been paid.

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By:
  • Samantha Liss
Thomas Greene with his wife, Bluizer, at their home in Oxford, Pennsylvania. After Thomas had a procedure on his leg, the anesthesia providers billed Medicare late, and he was sent to collections for the debt.

They billed Medicare late for his anesthesia. He went to collections for a $3,000 tab

Medicare was supposed to cover the entire cost of his procedure. But the anesthesia provider failed to file its claims in a timely manner and billed the patient instead.

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By:
  • Phil Galewitz
Bridget Narsh at her home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Narsh's son has autism, post-traumatic stress disorder, and ADHD. In 2020, he spent more than 100 days at Central Regional Hospital, a state-run mental health facility. The state billed the family nearly $102,000 for the hospitalizations.

A mom owed nearly $102,000 for her son's stay in a state mental health hospital

One North Carolina family's six-figure medical bill came from a state hospital. The attorney general, who is running for governor and says he's against high medical costs, tried to collect the debt.

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By:
  • Fred Clasen-Kelly