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ghalta t1_iujhzy5 wrote

Reply to comment by ktigger2 in A billing expert investigated her husband's ER bill. She was able to knock thousands off the charge. by 11ej25

It's not impossible. I pay a law firm to protest my property taxes every year. If they reduce the declared value of my home, and that results in a reduction of my property taxes due this year, they take as payment 50% of the amount saved. If they don't get it reduced, or they do but it doesn't affect my taxes (which happened this year), they get nothing. And, I get all of any compounded benefit for future years.

The big difference I see is that, after signing over the limited POA paperwork to them, I'm a continual client until I withdraw. For medical billing, there'd be a lot more time required to chase after customers with bills big enough to be worth the effort.

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ktigger2 t1_iujisfs wrote

But the clientele for this group is mainly people with high deductible insurance policies or no insurance. Not really the clientele that keeps lawyers on retainer.

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ghalta t1_iujqeax wrote

It's also people who get hit by large out-of-network emergency balance bills in states where those are still legal. I'm not sure which states that's true for though.

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TheSacredOne t1_iujsdu6 wrote

That isn't legal anywhere anymore. Out of network billing / balance bills for emergencies were banned federally back in January (see No Surprises Act).

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ghalta t1_iujsmbl wrote

Cool. So the story this thread is based on is probably no longer relevant to anyone. (I don't think the story says that the patient owed 40% because it was out of network, but that's a high percent for in-network coinsurance so I assume so.)

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adultry-throwaway t1_iujxb6p wrote

In all honesty the hospital should be held more accountable. Build out a non for profit to help these people. The non profit helps checks gor over/double charges on their clients bills. Put the hospital on the hook to pay the non profit an amount equal to what they over charged their patient.

If nothing else the hospital will be held responsible for their mistakes.

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bassman1805 t1_iujojp0 wrote

Do you mind sharing a little bit about your arrangement with the law firm to reduce your property tax? It might be a little personal for a public forum, but what's your property worth and/or how much have you been able to reduce your yearly tax bill by? How'd you go about finding a lawyer with experience in this field?

I'm a new homeowner just learning the ropes with property taxes. And I've never hired a lawyer before.

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ghalta t1_iujrtwk wrote

It's pretty common at least in Texas. ProTax (not the company I use) is one of the biggest in the market. Texas isn't a low-tax state; it's in the middle, but with no income tax, a lot of its revenue comes from property taxes. This includes school taxes, which the state takes, redistributes some of, and then uses the rest of balance the general books. So there's a lot of money to be made in small reductions in property value.

My tax rate appears to be like $2 per $hundred in valuation. So, if the appraisal board says my house jumped like $60k in value this year, that's an extra $1200 I'd owe. But the lawyer uses comps (which they found for lots of clients) that show my value should have only changed by +$20k. They protest, spend maybe 30 minutes total on my case (I assume), and get my valuation fixed. The difference in $40k valuation turns into $800 saved on my taxes, so I pay them $400 for their time and I pocket the other $400 they saved me.

Some years the county tries to up my valuation by $150k or more. This year it was a lot more than that. They got it lowered some. Texas caps your valuation change for the purpose of taxes at 10%, so if the county says my house doubled in value in one year, the double value shows up on the books, but I only pay 10% more. Then next year I can pay a compounded 10%, etc, until I catch up. That's why it pays to protest every year. The past five years when they got my value down $50-150k each year means my starting point for the cap is lower.

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rbekins t1_iujqlmt wrote

You do not need a lawyer to reduce your property taxes, or to fight increases. Talk to your assessors office about the process and it is something you can do. There are different methods of appealing based on the why your assessment is changing, ie a reassessment or equalization.

Here when it is a reassessment there is the option of talking to the assessor and having them do an informal assessment, basically coming out and walking around the property and giving you a number. You can either agree with the number or disagree. If you agree with the new number you simply sign off and its done. If you disagree you can still do a formal written protest to the board of review.

If the increase is a result of equalization, your only option is to submit a formal written protest.

When talking to the assessor, or in your written protest tell why your taxes should not be increased. For example one time I argued that my taxes were being increased twice in two years while other houses in the area were not. Another time i protested that the increase was greater than what other houses of similar age, size, and design were selling for in my area.

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peter303_ t1_iujymg3 wrote

Similar to people who appeal their denial of Social Security Disability application, which happens over half the time. The law firm takes a fraction of the back-paid SS, if successful. Typical appeal takes couple years. If the appeal is successful, you get get bak-pay to time of application.

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