You have the right to receive a “Good Faith Estimate” explaining how much your health care will cost

Under the law, health care providers need to give patients who don’t have certain types of health care coverage or who are not using certain types of health care coverage an estimate of their bill for health care items and services before those items or services are provided.

• You have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate for the total expected cost of any health care items or services upon request or when scheduling such items or services. This includes related costs like medical tests, prescription drugs, equipment, and hospital fees.

• If you schedule a health care item or service at least 3 business days in advance, make sure your health care provider or facility gives you a Good Faith Estimate in writing within 1 business day after scheduling. If you schedule a health care item or service at least 10 business days in advance, make sure your health care provider or facility gives you a Good Faith Estimate in writing within 3 business days after scheduling. You can also ask any health care provider or facility for a Good Faith Estimate before you schedule an item or service. If you do, make sure the health care provider or facility gives you a Good Faith Estimate in writing within 3 business days after you ask.

• If you receive a bill that is at least $400 more for any provider or facility than your Good Faith Estimate from that provider or facility, you can dispute the bill via the official Patient Provider Dispute Resolution (PPDR) Process .

An uninsured (or self-pay) individual, or their authorized representative, can initiate the PPDR process by submitting an initiation notice to HHS through the online federal IDR portal, submitting an initiation notice electronically, or submitting through the mail if postmarked within 120 calendar days of receiving the initial bill containing charges for the item or service that is substantially in excess of the expected charges in the good faith estimate.

HHS strongly recommends that the initiation notice be submitted through the federal IDR portal to help ensure the request can be processed quickly and securely.