In July 2012, Stewart A. Sutton settled a case in which a medical office overbilled one of its patients. The most outrageous charge was $1,350 for a back brace. The same back brace is sold for $288 by an online retailer of medical equipment. Medical providers may only charge reasonable amounts for their services and medical equipment. The touchstone for the determination of the reasonableness of a medical bill is either (a) the actual cost to the provider for rendering the medical services or (b) how much the provider is actually paid by insurance companies for the same medical care. Practice pointer for clients: Before buying medical equipment from your healthcare provider, you should conduct research on what online retailers charge for the same item.
