Negotiating a hospital bill

Not sure if this is allowed here, but trying to help loved one negotiate a hospital bill they can't afford.

Patient has insurance. Insurance company originally had a claims summary for the hospital visit (occurred earlier in 2024) that showed the total charges, but $0 was owed by patient. Out of nowhere, just this week, a new claims summary showed up showing the same total charges, but not several thousand $ owed by patient.

Plan was to first have patient call the hospital and ask for itemized bill. Hopefully the total gets reduced just from that. And then have patient tell hospital they can pay half at most now using a credit card, or need to be put on a payment plan for $100/month at most, until it's paid off.

Questions:

Why would the original claims summary show $0 owed, and then change it later on? Patient can still see both claims summary on insurance account. Do hospitals typically allow negotiation even if patient has insurance? Is there a better way to do this? If hospital agrees, does patient need to get some kind of signed statement showing the agreement? Is it even worth asking patient's insurance company what in the world is going on? submitted by /u/Chance-Strength-1831
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