🔍 Check your bill for errors

You need the itemized bill for this — the version with every line, its code and its quantity. A summary bill cannot be checked. Request one first if you do not have it. Then work down this list with the statement in front of you, noting line numbers as you go.

1. 1. Duplicate chargesThe same code, same date, billed more than once.Sort the itemized list by date, then scan for repeated code + date pairs. Genuine repeats exist — two X-rays really can happen in a day — so note the line numbers rather than assuming, and let the provider explain.
2. 2. Quantities that do not matchUnits billed exceeding what you actually received.Supplies and drugs are the usual place: three units of an item you were given once, or an hourly service billed for more hours than you were there. Discharge paperwork and visit times are your evidence.
3. 3. Unbundled chargesOne procedure split into several separately-billed components.Look for a cluster of small codes on the same date that describe parts of one thing — a surgical tray, its supplies, and its setup billed apart from the procedure. Ask directly whether the codes should have been bundled.
4. 4. Services that were canceled or never givenTests ordered then canceled, or medication you refused, still on the bill.Anything you remember declining or being told was canceled deserves a line-number query. This is the single most common finding people report, and it is the easiest for a billing office to verify in their own record.
5. 5. Dates you were not thereCharges on a date after discharge or before admission.Compare every date on the bill against your admission and discharge dates. Trailing charges dated after you went home are worth asking about specifically.
6. 6. A level of service that does not match the visitA short, simple visit billed at a high-complexity code.You are not expected to audit coding — but if a fifteen-minute visit is billed at the top complexity level, asking "what supports this level of service?" is reasonable, and the answer belongs in writing.
7. 7. Room and board that does not match your stayPrivate room billed for a shared one, or ICU-level billing for a regular ward night.Count the nights on the bill against the nights you stayed, and check the room type. Off-by-one night errors around admission and discharge days are common.
8. 8. Insurance not applied, or applied wrongBilled at full charge despite coverage, or an out-of-network rate at an in-network facility.Compare the bill against your explanation of benefits. If they disagree, that is a claim question for the insurer as well as a billing question for the provider — and if the provider was out of network at an in-network facility, the surprise-bill letter is the right one.