Avoid Surprise Health Insurance Bills!
Posted: Tuesday, May 04, 2010
by Yamileth Medina
VitalOne Health
When you have health insurance, you expect that it will pay for most of your health care. However, that is not always the case. From regular doctor visits to hospital stays, you may end up being responsible for more than your typical co-payment and/or co-insurance percentage.The worst part of being in this situation is that the charges are often a surprise. Unfortunately, most people do not have enough emergency savings in their accounts to cover hundreds or thousands of dollars in fees.
- If you are billed for the balance of a service after your health insurance plan paid its portion, make sure that you must actually pay for it. In many cases, you are not responsible for "balance billing" charges.
- Many states ban balance billing, which occurs when a health care provider bills your health insurance coverage for the discounted in-network price they have contractually agreed upon--and then bills you for the remainder of their standard fee. You should complain to your insurance company in that case. In the case that their increased fee is justified due to special circumstances, file an appeal.
- Extra bills are more likely if you go out-of-network, even if the procedure is "pre-approved" by your health insurance plan. Providers will often try to get you to pay for the portion your insurer won't.
- Don't rely solely on your insurer's website for provider information; call and double-check that they are in your network.
- Try your best to make sure that all of the people who treat you--including doctors, nurses, and anesthesiologists--are within your health insurance network. If any one of them isn't, they may send you a separate bill.
- If all else fails, negotiate directly with the hospital or provider's office. You will get the best results if you do so beforehand, but you can still have your bills reduced or even eliminated after the fact.
(Image: Lars Plougmann under CC 3.0)
Yamileth Medina is an up and coming expert on Affordable Health Insurance and Healthcare Reform. She aims to help people realize that they can find a quality health insurance plan right now. Yamileth lives in Miami, FL.
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