Over the past year, hundreds of you have asked Whistleblower for help. While we can't investigate each tip, we want to share more of what you tell us. In 2009, we started publishing a few tips each week to stimulate online discussion and create ways for our readers to help each other. Unlike our news stories, we have not verified this information. If you have a tip, send it to whistleblower@startribune.com.

For one Wright County woman, the pain of her husband's dentist's visit came not from the drill, but from getting a bill triple the estimate they had received. Here's what she wrote to Whistleblower:

Is this couple asking too much for a provider to check with the insurer? How easy is it for patients to find out ahead of time how much they have to pay for a procedure?