<prompt> Human: My wife recently had a small medical issue and we made the mistake of taking her to an emergency room, instead of an immediate care. They didnt explain the difference until afterwards. They pretty much just gave her a quick look and prescribed some antibiotics and now they have sent us a bill for almost 2000. I have read that you can sometimes negotiate the price down and I was wondering if anyone had any helpful tips or info on how to mitigate or contest this bill.Thanks!  <response>: The cost of emergency room is not just the antibiotic that was given but the entire support structure that was setup to receive and treat patients. Insurances would pay in the past but are now starting to push us to pay when they think it was not an emergency.I say this so that you dont take an agressive stance with the facility when negotiating but do negotiate as it is a lot of money. Try to find comparative cost in nearby areas they will not willingly disclose, and do not underbid them so much offering 50 bucks when 500-1000 may be expected that they stop talking to you. If you dont have the money it is much easier, you refuse to pay and they will try to settle but if we have money you cant use that strategy much the stakes for you are much higher with collections etc, and it does not make sense to use the threat then. Then there are some claim negotiators who can do this in your behalf. They dont work for small fees but they may take this 2000 dollar case: if they save you 1000 and charge 100 as negotiation fee you may be happy to pay. Some may do it for free too but the one I checked once was fee based.Last but not the least, if you have money sitting in HSA, use that, but I guess you know that already. That at least saves the taxes.Wish there was an easy answer but it will be so subjective. 