<prompt> Human: My 7 mo. old daughter had to go to the ER a few weeks ago. She vomited in her sleep and started choking on it. By the time we got to the ER drove ourselves, she was just coughing a little. We ended up getting her checked anyway, just to make sure there wasnt anything that we should worry about before putting her back to sleep. We went to 1 ER, which admitted her, the physician checked her stomach and vitals, and asked a few questions. She then told us that she was stable enough for us to take her to the childrens hospital farther away this hospital didnt have the facilities to take care of infants. So they discharged us after about an hour, and we went to Hospital 2. Hospital 2 took stomach X-rays to rule out any stomach obtrusion and did a few more tests, but ultimately ruled it as a virus and she was fine, and that her choking on the vomit was more us freaking out than anything that would actually harm her. They discharged her after about 3 hours. Heres my problem - Hospital 1 billed this as a Level 5 ER visit. Hospital 2 billed this as a Level 3 ER visit. I dont like the fact that we were billed twice to begin with, but I understand lesson learned, dont go to that hospital with an infant unless its a life or death emergency. But, the first hospital did almost nothing to actually diagnose or treat, and just dismissed us, yet billed us for over 3k in medical expenses for the most severe case of ER visit. Her Is there a way to negotiate that first bill down?  <response>: I am retired physician. If you call billingfinance at the hospital, there is always room for negotiation. 