October 13, 2009
Frequently Asked Questions About Paying My Bill at Martin Memorial
www.tcpalm.com
Q: What’s the best way for me to pay my hospital bills?
A: When making medical payment decisions, make sure you know:
• An estimate of the cost that your insurance will cover
• What you will have to pay out-of-pocket
• If you or your hospital physician’s office staff will be completing insurance forms
• Whether the Martin Memorial provider participates with your specific insurance plan
Q: What is a deductible and what is a co-payment?
A: A deductible is the initial amount of “covered” health costs that you pay before your insurance plan begins reimbursement. A deductible is usually a set dollar amount such as $250 or $500. A co-payment is the portion of your health care expenses not covered by insurance.
A co-payment is usually a percentage figure, like 10 percent or 20 percent. For example, on a $500 bill, your deductible might be $150, so you would have to pay the first $150. This leaves a balance of $350. Of that $350, your co-payment might be 20 percent, meaning that you will have to pay an additional $70. Your insurance company will pay the remaining $280. Once you have this information, there is a number of ways for paying your bill:
If your insurance pays all but a deductible or co-payment, you will be required to pay an estimate of your portion of the bill at the time of service. We will file the claim for you. After insurance has made payment, you will receive a bill asking for payment on the balance using cash, check, or credit card. Make sure that you understand what we require and what payment options you have.
Q: Who is responsible for paying my bill?
A: You are ultimately responsible for making certain that your bill is paid. We will bill your insurance company directly as a courtesy. If a balance remains after your insurance has issued a payment or a denial, payment is due immediately upon receipt of your statement.
We continually strive to contain costs, while maintaining our commitment to excellence in medical care, by ensuring that every appropriate effort is made to collect money owed to us for services provided.
Patients are responsible for the charges for services received. However, to assist patients in meeting their financial obligations, we will bill their health insurance carrier(s) for them, as long as a valid ID card and/or information regarding insurance coverage is presented at the time of registration.
Insurance is billed as a courtesy to the patient and the patient remains responsible for contacting their insurance carrier to ensure prompt payment of their accounts. Patients should contact their insurance if payment has not been made within 45 days. Accounts with balances due after 60 days will be billed to the patient, regardless of pending insurance benefits. Accounts with delinquent balance or without adequate payment arrangements may be forwarded to a collection agency or attorney.
At the patient’s request, a detailed inpatient bill may be provided. All outpatient bills are detailed. We will send periodic statements to the patient or responsible party in an effort to keep them informed as to the status of all open accounts.
Q: What other bill will I receive?
A: In addition to your bill from us, you may receive bills from other physicians who may have provided services to you. For instance, you may receive bills from consulting physicians, radiologists or other specialists. Please contact their offices directly if you have questions concerning their bills.
Q: Why didn’t my insurance pay?
A: This is something you’ll have to address with your insurance company. Please contact your carrier directly for this information.
Q: How do I make a payment?
A: Unpaid balances, including all applicable co-payments, co-insurance, deductibles and any non-covered services are the responsibility of the patient and must be paid within 30 days of receipt of the statement. Payments may be made via cash, check, or money order. We also accept Visa, Discover, American Express, Mastercard, Flex or HSA Cards.
Q: Can I pay my bill online?
A: Yes. Visit mmhs.com and click on the link that says Online Bill Pay.
Q: Who can I speak to if I have questions regarding my bill at Martin Memorial?
A: Contact us at (772) 223-5680 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Or you can email us with billing questions at billing@mmhs-fla.org.
July 13, 2009
Preventing hospital infections would save lives — and billions
Kevin McCarthy, associate editor Consumer Reports health.org
According to the Washington Post, the hospital industry is expected to announce a deal with the Obama Administration today to reduce health care spending by nearly $155 billion as part of a national health reform package. Hospital groups, including American Hospital Association, the Federation of American Hospitals and the Catholic Health Association, have reportedly agreed to smaller payments for Medicare and Medicaid services, and less reimbursement for caring for the uninsured, if and when health reform is enacted.
So far, however, health care reform proposals have not sufficiently addressed a key aspect that would save money and the lives of thousands of patients: Preventing hospital infections. On that note, our own Bill Vaughan, policy analyst for Consumers Union issued the following statement about the deal:
While the expected pledge by hospitals is a step in the right direction, there is a more important pledge patients and consumers need from our hospitals: stop the preventable deaths of 100,000 people a year from hospital acquired infections. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the cost of treating these infections is about $35-$45 billion per year. If even half of this spending was avoided, in over ten years we would have more than the amount of money in this deal.
In their spring letter to the White House pledging savings, the hospital industry said it would do more to fight infection. Today we have no proof that those pledges will result in fewer deaths and injuries. American consumers need to know which hospitals are doing a good job and which are just giving lip service. National health reform should include the public reporting of all hospital infection rates.
That is the only way to ensure that the pledges become reality.
An American dies every 5 minutes from a largely preventable infection acquired in a hospital setting. That is the equivalent to a jumbo jet crashing every other day. If we had those kinds of casualties in airplanes every day, either people wouldn’t fly or we would be working on air safety 24 hours a day.
Yet each day these preventable deaths and other life-long injuries continue in our hospitals. We know that these infections are largely preventable, but for too many hospitals, it continues to be business as usual. These deaths, injuries, and wasted billions can be almost totally prevented.
It’s important that hospitals are pledging to save money, but today they should also pledge to save lives. We need to end infection, publicly report on each institution’s infection rate, and save about $40 billion a year in reduced costs of treating infections
