Saving money on medical bills, as easy as ABC

We are often asked if we are able to negotiate a certain type of medical bill, we just got a phone call wondering if we can negotiate an ambulance bill (we can). With that in mind we created a simple ABC chart showing examples of the types of bills we can and have negotiate for individuals, saving them money.

A.  Anesthesia

B. Bone Density Scan

C. CT Scan

D. Dental Bills

E. Emergency Room charges

F. Fluoroscopy

G. General Anesthesia

H. Hospital Bills

I. Infusion Therapy

J. Joint Replacement of the Knee (Total Knee Replacement)

K. Kidney Dialysis

L. Labor and Delivery

M. MRI

N. Nasal Endoscopy

O. Orthotics

P. Physical Therapy

Q. Q-codes for service and supplies

R. Radiology

S. Surgery Center

T. Therapeutic Exercise

U. Ultrasound

V. Vaginal Hysterectomy

W. Wound Closures

X. X-Rays

As you can see, there are enough types of medical bills to fill the alphabet, well almost, we have not negotiated any Y’s or Z’s.

INSNET helps people save money on any type of medical bill that has a patient balance exceeding $200.00.

1 in 5 medical claims is processed incorrectly

The American Medical Association recently announced its 2010 National Health Insurer Report Card. The key finding in the report card is that 20% of medical claims processed by health insurers are done so inaccurately.

There are huge cost consequences involved in this process.  The AMA states that if the health insurance industry improved the claims processing by just one percent, that there would be  savings of over $750 million. You would have to think that savings like this would at some point benefit the end consumer, the patient.

Before the patient can realize any savings, the physicians must first realize some benefit. A study shows that physicians currently spend the equivalent of 5 weeks annually on health insurer red tape. The patient would surely benefits if a physician is able to reduce just a small portion of the amount of time his staff must deal with claim inaccuracies.

What does the 20% figure mean to the average patient? Lets say you have an elective surgery at a hospital that your doctor is on staff at. Your doctor is in your insurance network and so is the hospital, but the insurance incorrectly processes the hospital charge as an out of network claim ( a very common mistake by the way). Out of network claims mean greater out of pocket expenses for patients as the insurance has no means to secure a discount. If the claim was processed correctly, it would save the patient a lot of money.

Medical bills are confusing and difficult to understand. 8 in 10 have errors and now we learn 1 in 5 claims are processed correctly. There really is no reason not to secure the services of a patient advocate like INSNET to provide risk free medical bill review and negotiation any time you receive a medical bill.

When it comes to medical bills, who has your back?

It comes as no surprise that with the cost of medical care rising, that individuals are paying more for their care than ever before. Most people who get their health insurance through their employer have seen the cost shifted on to them. The average family of 4 spent $3,005 in out of pocket medical expenses in 2009.

One problem is there are errors and over payments made everywhere. A recent story illustrates that due to coding errors made by hospitals that $1.7 million dollars were overspent on psychiatric patients. Well if you are like most people you assume that if you go to a facility that is in your insurance companies network that you will get a discount, and the insurance will review the bill to determine that you pay the correct amount. Think again.

A recent study shows that 1 in 5 medical claims are processed by the insurance company incorrectly. What do these studies mean to the average person? If there is a coding error or your claim is processed incorrectly it could lead to even higher out of pocket costs?

Who does the average individual have to turn to if they receive a medical bill and it makes no sense and they are confused?  Patient advocates like INSNET ,LLC specialize in helping individuals save money on their medical bills and help eliminate some of the confusion that medical bills create.

How to increase the amount in your HSA

Health Savings Account are a great way for consumers to be more involved in their health care. Health Savings Accounts are bank accounts which are paired with a high deductible health plan. You pay for qualified expenses out of your HSA until your deductible has been met, at which time any further medical expenses are paid by insurance.

One concern is being able to fund enough in a HSA to cover anticipated expenses in a calendar year and also in the future, after retirement. According to a report by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, EBRI, the average husband and wife turning 65 in 2010 will need $376,000 to pay for out of pocket medical expenses not covered by Medicare.

The EBRI report predicts that HSA’s will replace employer provided healthcare the same way 401k’s replaced pension funds. One big concern is how can you save enough when you have a limit of $3,000 you can contribute yearly? One way is to reduce the amount paid out of the HSA.

Patient Advocates such as INSNET, LLC help individuals reduce what they pay on their out of pocket medical expenses. Patient advocacy services are a great fit for those who have high deductible health plans.  Studies show that 8 in 10 medical bills contain errors. Many assume their insurance will review their bill for accuracy, but what incentive do they have if they are not paying the bill?

INSNET’s service is risk free, they keep a percentage of the amount saved on your bill, and there is no fee if there is no savings. Any medical bill with a patient balance exceeding $200 is eligible. To learn more visit www.myinsnet.com.

Accountants can save you money this time of year, so can patient advocates

We have 2 weeks until April 15 when Americans need to file their income taxes.  This is by far the busiest time of year for accountants as people gather all their financial and income statements together and hope their accountants can create some magic for them and save them money. Patient Advocates should be thought of the same way, as  professionals whose job it is to help people save money.

Studies show that 8 in 10 medical bills contain errors, and that 65% of the errors are overcharges. Any time you get a medical bill you should review it carefully, but the problem is the bills are often confusing and difficult to understand.  Your insurance company may have incentive to review your bill for accuracy if they are paying it, but what incentive do they have if it is your responsibility?

Is $425 a fair amount to pay for a line item on a bill which reads ’99213′? Most people don’t know that $125 is a more reasonable amount, and knowing, or have access to this knowledge can save you money. The Patient Advocates at INSNET have been reviewing and negotiating medical bills since 1985.

INSNET was started by the founders of Insurance Negotiating Service who have been helping insurance companies save millions of dollars by negotiating medical claims. In 2007 INSNET began helping individuals by providing the same service that their insurance company has accessed for decades. If an insurance company believes it is smart to review and negotiate medical claims, don’t you think you should as well?   INSNET’s service is risk free, there is no fee unless we save you money on your medical bill.  I wish my accountant had a pricing structure like that.

We all pay for hospital billing errors

I recently saw this CNN video which shows several overcharges and billing errors. The overcharges include $1,000 for a toothbrush and $53 for a pair of disposable gloves. The story also shows a billing error where  a patient received 1 bag of saline and was billed for 41 bags.

The most disturbing part of the story to me was that the bill with the 41 bags of saline was paid by the insurance company. The 41 bags of saline were billed at $4,182, which was a $4,080 billing error. While it is bad enough that the insurance paid this, but who else pays?

If the patient receives their health insurance from their employer, chances are the monthly premiums for all employees of this employer will go up because the expenses go up. The patient may pay more, especially if his deductible had not yet been met.

Most people believe if they have insurance, the insurance company will review the bills for errors. The fact is, due to the massive amount of claims an insurance company must process a day, a trained professional rarely reviews a bill under $50,000. So this bill not doubt was processed according to the contracted rate by a computer program and was paid, except we all pay for the error.

If an error can be missed by the insurance company when they are paying the bill, it can certainly be missed when the majority of the bill is the patient responsibility. Trained Patient Advocates are available to assist individuals with bill review and negotiation services. INSNET, LLC provides this service risk free, they keep a percentage of the amount saved on a bill, with no fee if there is no savings.

Health insurance companies can make errors as well

You often hear that 8 in 10 medical bills contain errors. Our research shows that 65% of these are overcharges; meaning 35% are actually undercharges. I just read this story where a Wisconsin Insurance company made overpayments on $4.7 million in bills over a two year period.

It is imperative that when you receive an Explanation of Benefits (EOB) from your insurance company that you compare it to the invoice you receive from your medical provider. We understand that medical bills can be confusing and difficult to understand. That’s why we offer risk free medical bill review and negotiation. INSNET will review your bill for accuracy, and will only charge a portion of the amount we are able to save through our expert negotiation. There is no fee if there is no savings. Each bill submitted to INSNET is returned with a Transaction Summary which shows your bill has been reviewed and shows how your medical provider charged compared to what other providers in your geographic area charge for similar services.

Costly medical billing error

We recently reviewed a large hospital bill for a self funded company. The patient had a brain tumor and the bill was for a surgery to shrink it. The surgery  placed 8 implantable wafers  in the brain. The hospital bill for the implants alone was in excess of $93,000.00. Needless to say, this was a very complex procedure.

The hospital is part of the network the self funded company belongs to and thus the bill was submitted with a ppo contractual adjustment. The bill was submitted to us to determine if after the adjustment, was the hospital billing a fair rate (within Usual and Customary amounts).

Upon our review of this bill, we noticed that the cost for a box of 8 implantable wafers was $45,015.20.   We were able to determine the hospital cost for the box of 8 wafers to be $24,453.The hospital was billing the company over 1.8 times their cost for these wafers.

This bill was several pages long, and we also noticed 8 single line charges each for $6,044.56. Each single line item was for the generic name of the implantable wafer.  Based on the Operative Report and the manufacturer suggestions, 8 wafers were implanted in this surgery. The billing error was that the hospital simply charged for the box, and then mistakenly charged for each individual wafer.

On the implant charges of over $93,000, our client allowed about $37,000. Upon receipt of the check from the company, the hospital contacted the company via telephone and was looking for a fight; accusing our client of all sorts of things.  I can’t say I blame them, if they were expecting $93,000. Our client simply pointed out the double billing error. The hospital rep quickly reviewed the bill and according to our client became very quite and ended the coversation.

Not all billing errors are this large. This really is a simple error, it’s just compounded by the cost of each unit. Studies show that 8 in 10 medical bills contain errors. Our client hired us to help them. INSNET is available to provide risk free medical bill review and negotiation on any medical bill with a patient balance exceeding $200.00. Next time you get a medical bill in the mail, doesn’t it make sense to have it professionally reviewed?