Medical billing error checklist: 12 things to check on every bill
A printable 12-point checklist of the most common medical billing errors, including duplicates, unbundling, upcoding, wrong units, and more.
Identity and insurance
1) Your name, date of birth, and insurance ID are correct. 2) The claim went to the right insurer and the right plan year.
Services
3) Every service listed actually happened. 4) Dates of service match your visit. 5) There are no duplicate lines for the same code on the same date, unless you really had it twice.
Coding
6) Lab panels aren't billed as separate component tests (unbundling). 7) The ER or office visit level (e.g. 99285) fits how complex your visit was (upcoding). 8) Units make sense, like minutes of therapy or doses of a drug.
Pricing and payments
9) Prices aren't many times the Medicare rate (look up codes). 10) Insurance payments and adjustments are applied. 11) What you owe matches your EOB. 12) Charges for canceled or 'room and board' days after discharge are removed.
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Scan my bill free →FAQ
How common are medical billing errors?
Estimates vary widely between studies, and there isn't one reliable national figure. That's why it's worth checking every itemized bill.
What is unbundling?
Billing the parts of a bundled service separately so the total comes out higher, like billing the components of a comprehensive metabolic panel one by one.
What is upcoding?
Billing a more complex or expensive service than the one you got.
Educational information, not legal advice. Laws and deadlines change, so verify with official sources. More guides: How to dispute a medical bill · How to request an itemized medical bill (free letter template) · No Surprises Act dispute · Hospital charity care · ER bill too high? What to check and how to fight it · BillRebuttal vs. hiring a medical bill advocate · BillRebuttal vs. Dollar For