Check a parent's medical bills against the insurance statement

Match each bill to the Explanation of Benefits, spot charges that don't line up, and get a script for calling billing.

The problem

After a hospital stay or a run of appointments, bills and Explanation of Benefits (EOB) letters arrive from different places for the same visit. It is hard to tell what was already paid, what is a duplicate and what is actually owed, so families either overpay or ignore them.

Step by step

1. 1Gather the bills and the matching EOBs from the insurer or Medicare. Black out names, member IDs, Social Security numbers, account numbers and birthdates before taking photos.
2. 2Attach the redacted photos or PDFs in ChatGPT or Claude and paste the prompt below.
3. 3Review the match-up table and check every dollar amount against the paper documents; AI can misread photos.
4. 4For any charge marked "doesn't match", call the number printed on the bill and use the call script. Ask for an itemized bill if you don't have one.
5. 5Log each call (date, person, what they said, reference number) in a Google Sheet. Don't pay a bill that doesn't line up until it's explained.

Copy-paste prompt

Here are redacted medical bills and Explanation of Benefits statements for my parent. Please: (1) match each bill to its EOB by date of service and provider in a table: billed amount, insurance paid, adjustments, what the EOB says patient owes, and what the bill asks for; (2) flag anything that doesn't match, looks like a duplicate, or is billed with no EOB yet; (3) explain each confusing term in plain English; (4) write a short, polite phone script for calling the billing office about the flagged items, including asking for an itemized bill. Use only what's in the documents and tell me where you can't read something.

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Tips and watch-outs

• Black out names, member IDs, account numbers and birthdates before uploading.
• Only call the billing number printed on the bill or the insurer's official site.
• AI can misread photos; check every amount against the paper copy before you dispute or pay.

Review AI output before using it. Don’t paste confidential, customer or patient data into tools your company hasn’t approved.