EOBs or Explanation of Benefits are the notifications from your medical insurance company that clutter up your snail mail or email box letting you know how much your insurance company paid, what you owe, and what the medical provider is not allowed to bill you for.

Based entirely upon my non-scientific research, most people don’t open them, much less read them.

Are you one of those people? If so, this is a mistake that could cost you money.

As you might imagine, I open my EOBs and closely examine each and every one and have saved a significant amount of money because of it.

Let me give you a few examples from 2014.

Example #1: My insurance company denied a biopsy test on a mole I’d had removed and said I was responsible for the $250 bill. Their reason? The pathologist was out-of-network. That seemed odd to me because a few months prior, the same pathologist had tested run the same biopsy test on a different mole and the insurance company had paid for it in full. (NOTE: I’m not a fan of plastic surgery or botox, but I’ll have every single damn mole on my body removed, thank you very much).

I called the insurance company and the rep stood by the decision the company had made. Not to be deterred, I called the pathologist and confirmed that they were in-network at the time of the second procedure. They contacted the insurance company on my behalf, I called the insurance company back and referred them to the first EOB stating they had paid for another biopsy from this pathologist, and the insurance company ultimately reversed its decision. $250 stayed in my pocket.

Example #2: I received a doctor’s bill for about $75 that didn’t seem correct to me. I compared the bill to the EOB and saw that the EOB specifically said I did not owe this money to the doctor. I called the doctor’s office, emailed them the EOB, and they wrote off the bill, as they should have done in the first place. Another $75 stayed in my pocket.

Example #3: Last December, I had a Uterine Fibroid Embolization that involved a number of doctors and many medical bills. All of the doctors promptly submitted their bills to my insurance company and the bills were promptly paid, except for one. The insurance company sent one doctor a letter asking for more information about his claim for $2,000 before they could make a decision about payment. The letter was very specific about what was needed and provided the doctor with a deadline to respond. The doctor ignored that letter along with two additional requests. I also received copies of each letter. Last week, I received an EOB stating that because the doctor had failed to respond to their three previous requests for additional information, his claim was being denied in full and he could not bill me for any part of the charges. Should the doctor ever attempt to bill me, I have proof that I don’t owe him any money. Wahoo! Another $2,000 in my pocket!

Three medical claims. $2,325 in costs I didn’t have to pay. That’s real money.

Each time I’ve questioned one of my EOBs or a medical bill, I’m told that most people never question these things and simply pay their medical bills. No one can tell me how often it happens, just that people routinely pay for medical bills for which they aren’t responsible.

EOBs help me save money and manage my deductible and copays. If you care about your money, you should pay attention to them as well.

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