If you're researching whether Patient Fairness is legitimate, you're likely dealing with a medical bill that feels unfair - and you're looking for a trustworthy solution. With medical billing disputes becoming increasingly common and dispute services ranging from sketchy to reputable, it's smart to ask questions before choosing who to trust with your financial health.

What Makes a Patient Fairness Legitimate?

Before evaluating any specific service, you should know what distinguishes Patient Fairness from alternatives:

Transparent pricing – Patient Fairness clearly states its flat fees upfront. Using a firm that sets its fees as a percentage-of-savings, or doesn’t tell you the specific fee until the dispute is over, can result in a new problem bill from the same firm that was supposed to help you fix your problem medical bill.

Justifiable Dispute Criteria – Patient Fairness identifies sound reasons to dispute a medical bill, such as federal and state medical billing laws, consumer and patient legal protections, whether you agreed in advance to the billed charges, and if not, whether you think the charges are reasonable.  Services that just ask a favor of the provider to reduce a medical bill, or challenge the bill using false or unreliable arguments, are unlikely to get you the best outcome with your medical bill.

Patient control – Patient Fairness knows that patients are their own best advocates.  We always keep the patient in control of their medical bill dispute.  You decide on what reasons to base your dispute, what your objective is (e.g. reduce the bill to $X, eliminate the bill), and if and under what terms to settle the dispute. Patient Fairness gives you the information and tools for you to stick up for yourself, and fight for what you think is fair.

Expert Insights – Patient Fairness was founded by a health insurance veteran who understands how medical billing can be tremendously unfair, and what are the most effective ways patients can stand up to an unfair medical bill.  We help our customers understand the rationale they can use to dispute the medical bill, how a bill’s charges compare to benchmarks, and how to formally raise your concerns.  This helps our customers make informed decisions about their disputes, and evaluate what they think are fair outcomes. 

How Patient Fairness Works

Patient Fairness operates as a web-based medical bill dispute service that empowers patients to challenge unfair bills themselves at an affordable cost. Here's what sets it apart:

The Process

Patient Fairness starts with a free Problem Medical Bill Assessment. You upload a copy of your medical bill to our website and answer simple questions about its circumstances.  Then, we will identify and tell you  specific issues you can use to dispute your bill, including pricing concerns, the federal No Surprises Act, and other legal protections and sound arguments that may apply.

You can choose to become a customer for a flat fee starting at just $49. This gives you access to:

• Professional dispute letters customized to your case and mailed on your behalf.
• Comparison of your charges to Medicare rates for the same services.
• For hospital bills, analysis comparing charges to the provider's estimated cost to deliver care.
• Step-by-step guidance through the dispute process.
• Tracking of all correspondence to create a thorough dispute record.

Laws and Consumer Protections

Patient Fairness bases its strategies on 30 years of healthcare billing and compensation expertise. Here are some of the types of issues we identify on which to base a dispute:

• The bill is not accurate.  The patient did not receive the services as billed.
• The bill may violate the federal No Surprises Act.
• The bill may violate state-specific medical billing laws and patient protections.
• The patient and provider did not agree to the prices billed. 
• The bill was issued by a hospital that is not compliant with federal and state price transparency requirements. 
• The provider participates in the insurance network but is billing the patient above what the insurance company says it can.
• The bill is otherwise not fair and reasonable.  Examples include that the bill was issued too long after the services, the provider is billing more than the amount to which it and the patient agreed, and the provider told the patient that it would accept insurance payments and not bill the patient. 
  
  

Patient Fairness helps you raise legitimate concerns that you expect the billing provider to address.

What You Control

Patient Fairness keeps you in charge of your dispute. You decide:

• Whether to dispute the bill after seeing the assessment
• What settlement offers (if any) to make or accept
• How to define success for your case

This approach ensures you're not locked into decisions that don't align with what you think is fair.

Real Results from Patient Fairness Customers

Patient Fairness customers have documented significant savings:

• A Florida urgent care center withdrew a $402 bill entirely
• A Colorado medical center reduced a bill from nearly $65,000 to $650 (99% reduction)
• A hospital in Arizona cut a bill in half, saving nearly $15,000
• A Houston patient reduced an emergency room bill from over $4,000 to $500

These outcomes came after the customers challenged their bills with a professionally written letter of dispute grounded in legitimate issues, and a process under which the customers required the providers to address those issues to resolve the dispute. Not every dispute will result with the provider agreeing to reduce or eliminate the bill, but the customer decides whether and when to end a dispute.

How Patient Fairness Compares to Other Options

When facing a problem medical bill, you have several options. Understanding how they compare helps you choose the right path:

Medical Billing Advocates

Traditional medical billing advocates often charge hourly rates ($100-$200/hour) or take 20-35% of whatever they save you from the original billed amount. For a $10,000 bill reduced to $5,000, you might pay $1,000-$1,750 in fees.  Because the fees are not set upfront, a billing advocate’s charges can become a surprise bill of their own for the patient.   

Patient Fairness believes that if a medical bill’s charges are not fair then it isn’t fair to charge a customer a percentage of those charges to fight the bill.  Patient Fairness only charges flat fees, starting at just $49.  Our low, flat fees mean that we cost much less than competitors, customers know up front what fees they will pay, and it makes it practical for patients to dispute even smaller bills that other services will not handle.

Attorneys

Attorneys typically charge clients an hourly rate ($300-$600/hour) to address medical billing legal disputes.  .This can be a very costly option. 

If you are facing a lawsuit or have a particularly complex billing case, you may need an attorney.  Patient Fairness is not a substitute for an attorney and does not offer legal advice.  Most medical bill disputes do not require representation from an attorney, and cannot justify the high cost for use of an attorney. 

Doing It Yourself

You can dispute medical bills on your own, without any help from a service or advocate. However, most patients don't know key information that can help make their disputes successful.  This includes:

• The appropriate laws, consumer protections and arguments on which to base a medical bill dispute
• Evaluation of the prices charged on a medical bill
• The most effective language and structure for a letter of dispute for providers to take seriously
• Proper documentation and record keeping on the dispute

Patient Fairness bridges this information gap by giving you the processes, insights, and tools to effectively dispute a medical bill, while keeping you in charge to get the result you think is fair.

Ignoring the Bill

Many patients simply ignore problem medical bills, hoping they'll go away or assuming insurance will fix them. This is the worst option. Ignored bills often lead to:

• Escalated collection calls, letters, and other activity
• Damage to a patient’s credit score
• Potential lawsuits and wage garnishment
• Paying a bill you would not have owed had you successfully disputed it

Addressing a problem medical bill quickly is your best chance to successfully fight it..

When Using Patient Fairness Makes the Most Sense

Patient Fairness is particularly suited for:

Surprise bills – Out-of-network charges at in-network facilities and for emergency services, failures of providers to issue a good faith estimate in advance of services, and other types of medical bills you never expected

Prices and Services You Never Agreed To – Charges or services about which you weren't notified, or to which you never agreed, prior to services

Balance billing – (1) An in-network provider bills you above your in-network coinsurance and deductible amounts owed under insurance; or (2) a non-network provider bills you for the difference between their charge and what insurance paid without giving you notice prior to services

Bills with timing issues – In some states, providers must bill within specific deadlines or lose the right to collect

Hospital facility fees – Hospital charges for use of a physician office, in addition to physician charges, without the patient’s prior consent to pay the charges

Patient Fairness’s services are available nationwide, no matter the state to which the bill pertains .

What Patient Fairness Cannot Do

To maintain realistic expectations, understand that Patient Fairness:

• Cannot compel a billing provider to agree with your dispute, nor guarantee any specific outcome,  regarding your dispute
• Does not provide legal representation or advice (It's not a law firm)
• Does not handle concerns about the quality, appropriateness, or medical necessity of services
• Does not help to dispute insurance benefits, including medical necessity and coverage determinations
  
  

Patient Fairness’s Problem Medical Bill Assessment identifies potential grounds to dispute medical bills based on federal and state laws, consumer protections, and basic principles of fairness.   You can decide which potential dispute grounds you want to use in your dispute. 

Satisfaction Guarantee

Patient Fairness starts at just $49 to open a case to dispute a bill.  If you are not satisfied with Patient Fairness regarding a case, then you can notify us within the first 60 days of the initial payment that you want to close your dispute case. Patient Fairness will not charge you any remaining balance on the case fee, and will close the case as requested. 

How to Get Started

If you're dealing with a medical bill that feels unfair, overly expensive, or unexpected, taking action quickly improves your chances of success.  Visit patientfairness.com to open a case now. 

The Problem Medical Bill Assessment is free, so you'll gain insight into what potential grounds there are to dispute your bill even if you choose not to use Patient Fairness.

The Bottom Line on Legitimacy

Patient Fairness is a legitimate medical bill dispute service that gives patients the tools, insights and strategies to fight unfair bills, charges affordable flat fees, and keeps the patient in control of their dispute. 

For patients overwhelmed by confusing or inflated medical bills, using Patient Fairness is the smart step to reduce or eliminate unfair charges. The free Problem Medical Bill Assessment alone provides valuable insight, and the fee, starting at just $49, is minimal compared to the potential savings.

Complete the Problem Medical Bill Assessment today and find out if Patient Fairness can help you challenge your medical bill.

Patient Fairness provides medical bill dispute services nationwide. The service is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.