How BoDirect works, from the search to the bill.

Four steps: look up the posted price, keep it, ask for it in writing, and hold the bill up against it. Each paragraph has the part of BoDirect that does it in the margin, and the last says what BoDirect never does.

First, the search.I type the service and my ZIP. BoDirect shows the self-pay prices providers near me post, side by side, each with where it came from and the date it was last checked. Searching and comparing is free.

Then, the folder.I save the services I am pricing. Each one is filed with its posted prices, sources, and dates, and later the written estimate and the bill go in beside it. The free plan keeps two services; Plus keeps as many as I need.

Pick a tab in the folder to pull that service to the front.

Then, in writing.With Plus, BoDirect drafts a Good Faith Estimate request letter from what I saved. I read it, change what I want, and send it to the provider myself. If I am uninsured or paying for care myself, I can ask a provider for a written Good Faith Estimate, and when I schedule at least three business days ahead, the provider must give me one.

General information, not legal advice. BoDirect is not a law firm. What a Good Faith Estimate is and how to ask for one.

Last, the bill.When the bill comes, I put each provider’s written estimate and billed amount side by side. If the bill from any one provider or facility is at least $400 more than its Good Faith Estimate, I may be able to start the federal patient-provider dispute process, within 120 calendar days of the date on the bill.

BoDirect flags the difference and explains the next step. It does not file disputes.

Bill check summary

Example bill for a scan: two providers, each against its own estimate.

Example bill check
Provider	Estimate	Billed	Over
Facility A	$450	$900	$450
Reading, provider B	$120	$150	$30

$400 or more over Facility A is past the line. Provider B is not.

Example figures. The $400 line counts for each provider or facility on its own. Open the bill check

What BoDirect never does.It is software that makes me the best-informed person in the room. It is not insurance, a health plan, a discount medical plan, or a provider.

It never books my visit.
It never takes payment for my care.
It never contacts a provider for me.
It never takes money from providers for placement or rank.