When Los Angeles-based actor and content creator Amber Wallin posted about her surprise hospital bill on Instagram and TikTok, she wasn’t exaggerating when she called it a “WTHelly” moment.
Wallin, who has nearly 2 million followers on the two social media platforms, had just welcomed a new baby with her husband. But last week, she found herself staring at a medical bill for $4,412.72 — despite having insurance. The due date for the bill to be paid in full: July 7.
That’s stressful enough, but a few days later, the amount she owed had nearly doubled.
Wallin’s experience with unexpectedly high out-of-pocket medical costs isn’t unusual, and a surprise bill isn’t only a problem for those who’ve just given birth. Rising deductibles, coinsurance, and coverage limitations all combine to leave underinsured people paying thousands out of pocket. And these costs end up eating into household income, especially for Black Americans impacted by the racial wealth gap.
“POV: You Just Had a Baby in America”
Wallin shared on social media that she initially intended to set up a payment plan for the original bill — $1,000 per month — to pay it off quickly. However, when she logged into the healthcare provider’s portal, she now owed $8,333.73.
“The bill that you saw the other day was just for my stay. So, now they’ve added the bill for the child’s stay — the newborn. It costs money for the newborn to stay in the hospital,” Wallin said in her IG post. The title of the post says all viewers need to know: “POV: You Just Had a Baby in America.”
Unaffordable Out-of-Pocket Health Care Costs
According to the annual Milliman Medical Index, insured Americans like Wallin will likely have more than $7,800 in healthcare costs this year, and will pay more than one-third of this amount as out-of-pocket costs, Even having a federal law called the “No Surprises Act” isn’t preventing Americans from getting unexpected medical bills.
And Black folks are less likely to be able to pay for a surprise bill. A 2024 analysis by the Petersen Center on Health Care and KFF found that Black Americans are nearly twice as likely as white Americans to report having medical debt. Women are also more likely than men to carry medical debt, a gap linked to both the high cost of childbirth and gender-based income disparities.
What happens when you’re saddled with medical debt — or trying to avoid it? KFF found that people start delaying or skipping medical appointments. Research also shows Black folks are more likely than other groups to not go to the doctor because of worries over how to pay for care.
Code Switching for Better Care
Wallin shared in a subsequent post that she had decided to attack the situation by calling the insurer. But first, she is seen practicing a maneuver many Black people have learned to use: Code switching — complete with elocution to try to sound as “white” as possible.
Her husband Benjamin Wallin, who is white, can be heard offscreen, coaching her.
“This is actually a pretty good opportunity for you to practice The Voice,” he says. We then see Wallin begin pitching her voice higher and saying she went over the bill with her attorney — all preparation for reality: The healthcare industry is racially biased, so act like you know.
Learn to Dispute or Reduce Medical Debt
Wallin joked about starting an OnlyFans to pay off the bill. But it may not come to that. One of her Instagram followers, @mobetta4it_, who identified as a certified medical biller, laid out some steps to dispute or reduce medical debt — steps that match advice from The Patient Rights Advocate.
- Request an itemized bill and a coding audit.
- Check for inconsistencies and apply for financial assistance (this isn’t always income-based.
- There can be reserved funds for presumptive charity, which can reduce the amount patients owe.
“For instance, you legitimately are a survivor of a federally declared disaster (Altadena wildfires) which means you were displaced and unhoused from your principal residence,” Wallin’s follower pointed out. “That could’ve adversely affected your employment opportunities.”
And perhaps most importantly, “mobetta4it_” says, “Don’t offer to pay until you go through the process.”
