Going to the emergency room is scary—not just because you’re there for some kind of medical emergency, but because you never quite know what the bill is going to be. This is especially true when you don’t have health insurance; getting a medical bill in the mail can feel ultimately terrifying.

You might think that there isn’t anything you can do about a high ER bill (well, except maybe sell your home), but one woman recently shared a money-saving tip that went viral. All those uninsured, listen up.

The woman shared a TikTok video she saw explaining that if you simply ask the hospital for an itemized bill that lists out every single charge, they will likely reduce your bill…by hundreds!

How could one listen question save so much money? The woman explains that most of the time, the high bill is a result of an astronomical charge for something silly—for example, a Band-Aid. And when you ask for an itemized bill, the hospital realizes that the charges don’t make sense and will remove them.

“They don’t want you to know that they charged you $37 dollars for a f**king Band-Aid, they’re going to take that $37 charge right off of there,” the woman in the video explained.

She goes on to say that she’s proof that this tactic works. Several times, she’s had ER bills around $1,000 and after asking them for an itemized list, they take anywhere from $200-$250 off. “They’re going to take those [silly] charges off because they don’t want you to know,” she says.

Don’t believe her? Then take it from the Twitterverse who got hold of her tip and tried it themselves—and can’t stop sharing about how well it works.

“Did this for two different surgeries,” one fan posted on their feed. “Suddenly my balance was magically paid in full both times.”

“I did this and my bill went from $500k to free,” someone else shared.

“I did this for a $30k bill. It took 40 hours of phone calls over 10 months to get it but I got a statement with $0 due,” another wrote.

Moral of the story: It never hurts to ask. In fact, even if you do have insurance, it still doesn’t hurt to ask.

“If you have insurance, NEVER pay a bill until you make sure the amount matches the amount on your explanation of benefits that your insurance says you need to pay,” one woman advised on Twitter. “Cannot tell you how many thousands of dollars this has saved me due to clerical errors by insurance/doctors.”

For more tips like these, follow along on this Twitter thread where it started. The thread has more than 50,000 people who’ve dealt with high medical bills sharing their thoughts!

Tell us: Have you ever asked for an itemized bill? Did they lower the amount due? What tips and tricks do you have for dealing with high medical bills?

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