Hospital billing representatives at hospitals are always trying to discern the difference between those who are unable to pay their medical bills and those who are merely unwilling to pay medical bills.

However, a billing rep will review the patient’s account before assessing eligibility for financial assistance. There may be notes on the account that could prohibit you from being considered for financial assistance. You want to police yourself when you talk to billing reps and be cautious that you do not disqualify yourself unnecessarily.

Account notes that billing reps look for

1) Does this patient take and return our phone calls? You want the billing rep to view you as responsive and cooperative. Conversely, you absolutely don’t want to be viewed as non-responsive and uncooperative. If you have a message from a billing rep, return the call, even if it is just to tell them that you need time to understand your bills. If you see your billing rep’s number on caller ID, answer the phone. Do not ignore their calls hoping they will just go away. It is just as bad as ignoring the symptoms of a disease. It will not go away; it will just get worse.

If you’re getting calls from a billing rep, it may be because they need to check your birth date or policy number. If you purposely ignore billing reps they may have no choice but to eventually switch the whole amount from your insurance company to your name and possibly send your account to collections. It is a terrible tragedy when this happens, because a two to three minute clarification on insurance information can clear the whole thing up instantly.

2) What do the notes on say about the patient’s attitudes and behavior? The notes on your account can save or destroy your chances to get a break. The best advocates you will have are the positive comments from another billing rep. Things like “called back promptly,” “good demeanor,” and “called to verified payment received” are all positive things to have on your account notes.

3) Has this patient been uncivil or caused problems in the past? Getting angry on the phone will get you sent to collections. Insulting the billing rep or being sarcastic are completely counter-productive and will hurt you. As a medical facility manager, I would never give a break to someone who was uncivil, mean, or vulgar to one of our billing reps.

4) Has this patient made an effort to pay his or her bills? How many days delinquent is the account? The key word here is “effort.” Has the patient made any effort at all? A patient who has sent in $15 each month for four months on a $300 account is going to get better consideration than someone who has paid zero per month for four months.

I was more aggressive than most billing reps in that I wanted all accounts paid within six months. I would usually allow “micropayments” the first few months if the patient would agree to a balloon payment at month six. Most billing reps will allow payment plans greater than six months. As a patient advocate, the longest payment terms I have ever gotten for someone was two years.

5) Has this patient followed an agreed upon payment plan? If you get the billing rep to agree to let you make payments, it is crucial that you not miss a payment. There is an “implied contract” when you enter a payment plan that the provider has waived its ability to collect the full amount due immediately as long as you make your payments on time. Once you miss a payment, this “implied contract” is breached and they can call the full amount due immediately. If you think you are going to miss a payment, I strongly recommend that you call the provider before the due date and let them know. This might be your only chance of preserving your payment plan.

Summary

Maintaining good rapport with your healthcare provider is the first step to accessing financial aid. You want to have squeaky clean account notes at the time you ask to apply for medical bill financial aid.

Author Bio: Contributed by Nicholas Newsad, M.H.S.A., author of Medical Bill Help and The Medical Bill Survival Guide.

Category: Finances
Keywords: medical bill,hospital bill,financial aid