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December 19, 2005
Ending Health Savings Account Claims and Paper Chase for Doctors
Doctors faced with a Health Savings Account patient can end the paperwork and claim pain instantly.
Physicians should have the following policy: We do not file claims with health insurance companies if you have a Health Savings Account, and we expect you to pay at the time of your visit, just like you do when the plumber comes to fix your toilet or you take your car to the shop.
The vast majority of Health Savings Account claims fall below the deductible.
In fact, the majority of people with an HSA who spent more than their deductible have had a hospitalization.
And if you take out of the mix those hospitalization cases, the number of people who reach their HSA deductible is really very, very small.
So a physician office that institutes the no file, pay before you leave policy can rest assured that their not filing the claim will make very little difference to the patient - since most who exceed their deductible did so at a hospital.
So, if an HSA patient will pay the doctor at the point of service, why would it be in the interest of the doctor to file the claim, spending all that staff and expense to get paid by the insurer?
Doctors with the pay before you leave policy can offer a price close to the network discount price, and still be ahead financially - but the physician needs to have a set cash price list to do so.
Posted by Wiley Long at December 19, 2005 09:38 AM