Bill Plainly

Medical bills explained clearly.

Send us your bill. We read it line by line and send back a plain-English write-up of what you were charged for, what looks worth questioning, and exactly what to say when you call.

Most reports come back within 2 business days.

How it works

  1. Send your bill

    Email a photo or PDF of the bill. If you have insurance, include the Explanation of Benefits (EOB) too — that's the statement from your insurer that says "this is not a bill." Both together tell a much fuller story.

  2. Answer a few questions

    We'll send a short questionnaire — what the visit was for, what you've already paid, what you've been told so far. Takes about five minutes.

  3. Get your report

    A written explanation in ordinary language: every line item translated, anything that looks like a duplicate or a mismatch flagged, and a short list of specific questions to ask — with a script for the call.

What's in the report

What that actually looks like

An emergency room visit for chest pain. On the left, what the hospital sent. On the right, part of what we'd send back.

What the hospital sent

ED VISIT LEVEL 4 992841,120.00
CBC W/DIFF 8502589.00
CBC W/DIFF 8502589.00
BASIC METAB PNL 80048124.00
TROPONIN I 84484216.00
EKG W/INTERP 93010198.00
CHEST XRAY 2V 71046287.00
PHARMACY18.00
AMOUNT DUE1,847.00

What we send back

Level 4 emergency visit. The ER's fee for seeing you. "Level 4" means high complexity — normal for chest pain, because it has to be taken seriously until a heart attack is ruled out. This charge looks right.

Troponin, EKG, chest X-ray. These are the standard tests for chest pain. Troponin is the one that rules out a heart attack. Nothing here looks out of place for why you went in.

The same blood test is billed twice on the same day. Sometimes a second draw is genuinely done a few hours later. Sometimes it's a keying error. Ask: "Were two separate specimens drawn on March 14th?"

Your insurer says you owe $312.40. This bill asks for $1,847.00. Nothing in either document explains the $1,534.60 gap — and $1,847 is exactly the hospital's full charge minus what insurance paid. For emergency care, that's the situation federal surprise-billing rules were written to address. This is the first thing to call about, and we give you the words.

This example is invented — the patient, hospital, and figures aren't real. We'd never publish anyone's actual bill.

Chris and Ervie, the two people behind Bill Plainly.

Chris and Ervie

Why we do this

We're Ervie and Chris, husband and wife. We're not a company with a call center — we're two people who have spent twenty years on the other side of these bills.

Common colds. Allergies. Pregnancies. Cancer. We've sat at our kitchen table with a stack of statements that didn't add up, called billing offices without knowing what to ask for, and paid things we probably shouldn't have because it was easier than fighting.

We made a lot of mistakes doing that, and most of them came down to the same thing: nobody explains these documents to you, and nobody's job is to tell you what to ask. That's the whole reason this exists. We'd rather you didn't learn it the way we did.

What this is — and what it isn't

Bill Plainly is an educational service. We explain what your bill says and help you ask better questions.

We are not lawyers, doctors, insurance agents, or licensed patient advocates, and nothing we send is legal, medical, or financial advice. We do not contact your provider or your insurer, we do not negotiate on your behalf, and we do not represent you in any dispute.

We cannot promise your bill will go down. Some bills turn out to be correct. A report that tells you a charge is legitimate is a normal and useful outcome, and it costs the same. Any decision about paying, disputing, or appealing is entirely yours.

We work only from the documents you send us. We can't see your medical record or your insurer's internal notes, so our read is only as complete as your paperwork.

Pricing

One flat price. No percentage of "savings," because we don't control whether there are any. If the report isn't useful to you, ask and we'll refund it.

$49

One bill

A single bill or statement, with its EOB if you have one.

Start

$79

Two related bills

Two bills from the same episode of care — say, the hospital and the doctor who saw you there.

Start

$99

Complex

Three or more bills, a long hospital stay, or a tangle of statements you can't line up.

Start

Not sure which one you need? Start with $49. If your bill turns out to be bigger than that, we'll tell you before we start any work and you can decide then. Not knowing is usually the reason people are here in the first place.

Payments are handled by Square. Your receipt and card statement will show Your Best Life LLC, the company behind Bill Plainly.

Questions

What if my bill turns out to be correct?

Then the report says so and explains why. Knowing a bill is right is worth something too — it's the difference between paying and wondering. The price is the same.

What if I'm not happy with the report?

Email us and we'll refund you. No form, no argument.

One clarification, so we're straight with each other: if the report explains your bill clearly and the answer turns out to be that the charges are correct, that's the service working — not failing. But if it's vague, thin, or doesn't answer what you actually asked, say so and you'll get your money back.

Will you call the hospital for me?

No. We give you the questions and the script, and you make the call. You know your situation, and providers will speak to you far more readily than to a third party.

How long does it take?

Usually within 2 business days of receiving your bill and your answers. If something will take longer, we'll tell you.

What happens to my documents?

They're used only to write your report. We don't sell or share them. If you'd like them deleted once your report is delivered, just say so and we will.

Is there free help available?

Yes, and you should know about it. The federal No Surprises Help Desk is 1-800-985-3059, open 7 days a week, and CMS publishes free consumer guidance at cms.gov/medical-bill-rights. Many states also have a free health insurance consumer assistance program. We're a paid shortcut through the reading and the paperwork, not the only option — and we'd rather you knew that up front.