When they are lying in the hospital bed, costs and the bill aren't upper most in their minds. More than once family members have told me to do everything you can for their loved one, not even considering the cost.

It is when they get home, weeks later, when they receive the bill that the surprise comes. And while most I am sure, feel they should pay a portion of the bill, some are completely dumbfounded how a 3 day hospital stay can rack up tens of thousands of dollars.

It would be terrible to have that debt hanging over your head, the anxiety and sleepless nights would be overwhelming. In this day and age with soaring health care costs and out of control cost, stories of unpaid bills and bankruptcy are easy to find.

Nurses have a long tradition of patient advocacy so in this and other articles we will examine some actual hospital bills. Some of these bills will have errors while others will have overcharges of 400% or more.

There are excellent resources on the internet including 10 Ways to Avoid Outrageous Hospital Overcharges. But there is also information and examples from the bills I have audited.

Follow along as hospital bills are examined, and in one case you can decide for yourself if the hospital billing and coding department was guilty of fraud.