February 25, 2025
Author: The Clearity Team
Introduction
There shouldn’t be a trade-off between your health and your financial condition when you’re in a vulnerable scenario like being unwell or knowing that your care would be expensive.
Many patients are striking back and gaining control of negotiations with hospitals and insurance companies over their medical bills. There is a good chance that if you have ever visited a hospital or ER, you have been given a bill, which often costs thousands of dollars.
This is where We Are Here and Clearity come in. We Are Here is a startup founded by survivors and caregivers that addresses the impact cancer has on your life: from finances to emotions to stamina – and everything in between. Clearity is a company focused on providing healthcare prices gathered from real hospital and clinic bills to everybody. With this data, you can choose where you go, know ahead of time what things could potentially cost, and plan financially for your care.
Together, We Are Here and Clearity are working to ensure that cancer patients don’t have to choose between good health and financial security.
After polling We Are Here members, we’ve learned the top issues that cancer patients face when approaching their cost of care.
Medical bills can be a huge source of financial strain for many people, whether they are worried about how to pay bills while out of work, fear of burning through their savings, or coming up with out-of-pocket costs for expensive treatments.
High-deductible plans can create a further challenge, as people are often forced to save up for scans and treatments that they would otherwise not be able to afford. In some cases, people have even had to quit their jobs due to the strain of medical costs.
Surprise medical bills are unexpected charges that patients receive after a procedure or treatment they believed was covered by their insurance. These bills often arise due to factors like out-of-network providers, complex billing practices, or discrepancies in negotiated costs. While the issues can be complicated, it’s important to know that these bills are often negotiable. Patients have options to dispute or reduce charges by reviewing itemized bills, checking insurance coverage details, and negotiating with providers.
This article will discuss how to keep medical bills under control financially.
How to Find Help
Many cancer patients are unaware of the resources available to help them manage the financial costs and bills associated with their ongoing treatment.
At Clearity Health, we connect our members with the grants they qualify for, easing financial burdens with personalized solutions. We Are Here expands this impact by not only connecting patients to financial assistance but also providing access to discounted products and services—ensuring they have the cost-saving options needed to make treatment more affordable.
Financial counselors, social workers, charitable organizations, and cost saving tools like Clearity Health can help cancer patients understand their insurance coverage and develop a plan to manage their expenses.
These resources can help patients calculate their out-of-pocket costs, choose providers based on costs, determine what type of financial assistance they may be eligible for, and review bills from their treatments.
With the help of these resources, cancer patients can make more informed decisions about their financial situation and develop a plan to manage the financial costs of their cancer treatment without sacrificing quality care.
What to Do Before Negotiating
As a responsible healthcare consumer, you have the right and responsibility to review and interpret your medical bills in order to get the best pricing possible.
With the right timing and negotiation strategy, you can save significant amounts on your medical bills. For instance, our CTO reduced his appendicitis bill from $70,000 to $7,000. Similarly, Courtney, a local customer, saved 25% on her ER bill by using Clearity’s guidance to negotiate charges and reduce her financial burden. These examples highlight the power of transparency and negotiation. Generally, you have 180 days to take advantage of these methods and get the best deal. These are just a couple examples of how powerful bill negotiation can be. We are working to implement an AI that can walk you through bill negotiation. Clearity can also direct you to partners that will negotiate bills for you at a discount.
Clearity is committed to helping patients who are struggling with excessive medical bills. Our healthcare cost search engine allows you to compare your bill to those of others in similar situations. Sometimes we may not know what we are searching for, so we are implementing an AI assistant that will help you narrow down what you are looking for.
If the figures don’t match up, there are ways to negotiate and potentially save money, such as requesting an itemized bill and examining it for any odd or unusually high charges. Even the smallest of errors can result in big savings!
Clearity was created to help patients with excessive medical bills. Our healthcare cost search engine can help you compare prices with others who experienced the same problem. If you find that your bill is significantly different, you can take action.
First, contact the hospital and ask for an itemized bill. This will tell you the exact amount you were charged for each procedure, including resources. If you spot any charges that seem too high, ask for clarification
Hospital charges are filled out by people, and sometimes human errors and mistakes are made. Utilizing our data to ask why your bill is different can help you negotiate a more affordable cost.
This process may take a few phone calls, but it’s worth it if you can save money in the end.
Know What Your Insurance Covers (and Doesn’t)
Insurance coverage is complex and varies by company and payment plan. The best way to determine what is covered is to call your insurance company directly using the phone number on the back of your insurance card.
This process may be time consuming, but it is worth it in order to save money. To help in this process, it is important to familiarize yourself with common terms used by insurance companies and billing departments.
Below is a list of definitions to help understand the different jargon used by insurance providers. Familiarizing yourself with these definitions will give you more power in negotiations and understand what your liabilities are.
Negotiating and exploring better options for medical bills can be done by asking the billing staff if there are any discounts available. For example, if a hospital is nonprofit and the individual falls below 138% of the poverty level, their bill may be voided as part of their nonprofit status.
Additionally, one can ask if there is a cash pay option, which can often result in a significant discount if the bill is paid off immediately. Learn more in depth about bill negotiations at our resources page, here.
There are also commercial bill negotiation services that charge a fee to negotiate, which you could use. We think empowering patients with the tools to do it themselves is far more beneficial. In addition there are charities that can help pay off medical debt as well. Most of these are run by non profit organizations or religious organizations that take donations to pay off debt.
Summary
At Clearity, we are committed to helping people across the nation negotiate medical bills to make this process easier and more manageable, alleviating huge financial hardships. Our healthcare cost search engine provides transparency into a healthcare system in need of repair, helping patients find the best care at an affordable rate.
Learn more about Clearity by clicking here.
About the Author(s): Clearity Health is dedicated to making healthcare pricing more transparent and accessible, helping patients navigate the complex world of medical billing. With expertise in healthcare data, patient advocacy, and financial assistance, they provide practical tools and strategies to reduce financial burdens. Through partnerships like this collaboration with We Are Here, Clearity Health empowers patients to take control of their medical expenses and access the care they need without unnecessary financial strain.