Consumers may feel their medical bills are unyielding, inflexible, set in stone. But that's not always true: A new study shows patients can often reap financial benefits by disputing charges that seem erroneous or by negotiating for financial relief. Of consumers who don't reach out to question a medical bill, 86% said it's because they didn't think it would make a difference — but "the experiences of those who did reach out provide evidence to the contrary," according to a new University of Southern California study. About 26% of people who called because they disagreed with a charge or couldn't afford to pay it got their medical bill corrected after the outreach, according to the study, published in August. Roughly 15% got a price reduction, 8% got financial assistance and 7% saw their bills canceled outright.

"Of the people who did reach out, most of them got some recourse through self-advocacy," said report co-author Erin Duffy, a research scientist at the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics. Researchers polled 1,135 U.S. adults from Aug. 14 to Oct. 14, 2023. About 1 out of 5 respondents reported receiving a medical bill with which they disagreed or could not afford within the prior 12 months. About 62% of them contacted the billing office to address the concern. More from Personal Finance:

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