Medicare & Other Health Plan Changes Coming in 2012
Florida medical billing professionals, listen up! Changes to Medicare policies and other health insurance policies are on the way for 2012, making patient verification benefits all the more crucial in Florida. Many plans have new limitations, exclusions or waiting periods that your medical billing staff will need to be aware of. Among the changes:
- Medicare Part B premiums are increasing, but deductibles are decreasing;
- Medicare Part C plans are expected to drop in price;
- For State of Florida employees, HMO options are changing and many won't be available next year;
- Capital Health Plan next year will consider chiropractic treatment a specialty service requiring specialist co-pay;
- Some plans that offered benefits covering both eye glasses and contacts will now cover only eye glasses or contacts.
The myriad of different benefits, restrictions, exclusions, waiting periods, etc. can be overwhelming to say the least. Verification of patient benefits is time consuming and can be confusing, taking time, energy and expertise away from helping other patients. But it's a crucial element of your business. Failing to accurately and thoroughly verify patient benefits can leave you holding the bag for uncovered treatments that your patients can't afford to self-pay.
To help keep your medical practice running efficiently and profitably, iATROS Healthcare Solutions offers
pre-verification of benefits conducted prior to your patients' appointment. This allows your staff to more accurately collect patient co-payments and deductibles at the time of the appointment, reducing the number of patient collections days in your A/R to zero. Consider that after the customary 180-day collections window, each dollar gone uncollected is worth an average 45 cents. In today's shaky economy, collecting as much of your earned payments as early as possible is all the more important to your practice's bottom line.
To find out more, contact iATROS Healthcare Solutions, based in Florida but serving clients nationwide, at (877) 900-6763.