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Tink set one of Tink's replies as an official response to "Waiting on Insurance policy approval..." in change:healthcare, inc.

Tink replied on October 15, 2008 15:26 to the question "Waiting on Insurance policy approval..." in change:healthcare, inc.:

What is most important with health insurance policies and coverage is that you do not have a "lapse in coverage." This occurs when an individual is in between health insurance plans or without coverage for a period of time. The reason a lapse in coverage is bad is because an insurer will often point to that instance as the time when a health condition began. Whether or not this is true is a whole different story, yet insurers still use it as a justification to deny coverage for certain care.

If you are working directly with an agent (if there is an actual person to talk to) ask them if they can excel the process. Tell them that you want to avoid a lapse in coverage. If they say that cannot make the approval occur faster, ask them if you need an interim policy to cover you until your application is approved. They should be candid with you in responding to your concerns.

Tink asked a question in change:healthcare, inc. on October 15, 2008 15:25:

Waiting on Insurance policy approval...

I actually paid for an insurance policy but my application will take several weeks to process. Is that normal? If so would an interim policy be a good idea? Help

Tink replied on October 15, 2008 15:14 to the question "What does "account expired" mean?" in change:healthcare, inc.:

FLToddy,

Truthfully "the account is expired" message means that we have a small bug in the application. Our application is now FREE!!! Therefore, your account is not ever supposed to expire.

It would be really helpful if you could send me your email address. Then we can take a look in our database and see what type of account it has recorded for you. We change that if it has the wrong account type listed.

I can email you once we check out that information and let you know if we have made any changes. Then you can also email me back if you continue to have any issues.

Sorry for the confusion!! We will get this straightened out!

My email is kwelty@changehealthcare.com.

Thanks,

Katrina

Tink replied on September 25, 2008 21:01 to the question "surgery cost" in change:healthcare, inc.:

Hi Amy,

Matt gave some great advice. My Healthcare Is Killing Me will give you some tips for negotiating, which can be critical in reducing costs for uninsured patients.

Another thought is to ask your doctor how much the procedure will cost "retail" since there will not be any insurance discounts. You can tell him/her about the estimated costs you found via the internet, if they are unable to give you a "ball park" figure.

Once you decide on a place to get surgery, you can ask the billing department if they have an uninsured patient discount, or if they would be willing to give you a general discount on the bill. You can potentially ask for the same rate that Medicare patients receive or the lowest private insurance negotiated rate.

If you have any more questions, feel free to email me at kwelty@changehealthcare.com.

Good Luck!

Tink started a conversation in change:healthcare, inc. on September 25, 2008 20:52:

Free e-book to help healthcare consumers!

Check out change:healthcare's new book "My Healthcare Is Killing Me." It is available as a free download on www.MHIKM.com

Tink started a conversation in change:healthcare, inc. on February 20, 2008 16:31:

change:healthcare is changing!

change:healthcare is changing on March 1st.

Check back for the latest developments!!

Tink set one of Tink's replies as an official response to "Copy EOB info to new EOB" in change:healthcare, inc.

Tink, an employee of change:healthcare, inc., replied on December 28, 2007 23:29 to the idea "Copy EOB info to new EOB" in change:healthcare, inc.:

SongOfRuth,

This is great feedback! These are things we have been discussing as we begin organizing the details of the new site.

What I am gathering is that it would be helpful to enter or add a multiple line EOB. It would probably be additionally helpful to enter a "super bill" or a bill that distinguishes between charges.

These are things I will make notes about and bring them up in our next organizational meeting.

Please feel free to continue to provide feedback. Your thoughts are appreciated!!

Thanks!

SongOfRuth replied on December 28, 2007 18:59 to the idea "Copy EOB info to new EOB" in change:healthcare, inc.:

I found that shortcut and do find it useful.

I guess where the Copy idea would really come in handy is when there are several charges on one EOB. For instance, so far as I can tell all I'm doing when I go to the doc is going for an office visit along with somebody sucking blood out of my arm. But that one visit generated 3 EOBs and each EOB had multiple items. I'd just enter all the totals except that when I get billed by this same doc the bill always separates out all the individual charges so keeping them separated makes it easier to double-check for errors.

Tink set one of Tink's replies as an official response to "Copy EOB info to new EOB" in change:healthcare, inc.

Tink, an employee of change:healthcare, inc., replied on December 28, 2007 15:30 to the idea "Copy EOB info to new EOB" in change:healthcare, inc.:

Hi SongOfRuth,

That's a great idea. We are coming out with a new version of the site in February that will make it easier to enter multiple EOB's into the system. But a simple button saying "Add New EOB for Same Visit" would be a great tool for users.

Until then I have a suggestion. Once you add your first EOB you will see the "Viewing EOB Information" screen. On the right hand side of that screen there is a place where you can "Add Related:" Bill, EOB, or Payment. If you click to add a related EOB the application with automatically fill in step one for you and relate the two EOBs in step two.

When the two EOBs are related in step two that means that their monetary information is connected. You can simply unrelated the documents by unchecking the related EOB. Then you can move to step three and enter the EOB details.

I use this myself as a shortcut when entering in multiple line EOBs for the same doctors appointment.

We really appreciated the feedback and suggestions. If you have anymore ideas or questions please feel free to share. My email is kwelty@changehealthcare.com.

Hope that helps!

Tink set one of Tink's replies as an official response to "I requested an itemized bill from my providers but I don't know what is legitimate or if I should dispute any of the charges" in change:healthcare, inc.

Tink, an employee of change:healthcare, inc., replied on December 28, 2007 15:16 to the question "I requested an itemized bill from my providers but I don't know what is legitimate or if I should dispute any of the charges" in change:healthcare, inc.:

Hi Stef B,

That's a really touch question. Knowing whether or not charges are legitimate and if they should be disputed is often dependent on the insurance you have (if any) and the reason you went to see the doctor. There are of course obvious things to look out for such as duplicate charges. Other than that medical billing is anything but straight forward and easy to understand.

We have a partnership with a company called Medical Bill Review Services which helps people manage their claims and dispute irrelevant charges. If you would like Patsy's contact information I would be more than happy to send that your direction. Feel free to email me at kwelty@changehealthcare.com.

We are also coming out with a new version of the change:healthcare site in February. It will be much more helpful in allowing you to determine what other people we typically billed for a certain procedure or health issue as well as what other people ended up paying.

If you have any other questions please feel free to contact me.

Thanks!

Tink started following the question "I requested an itemized bill from my providers but I don't know what is legitimate or if I should dispute any of the charges" in change:healthcare, inc..

Tink started following the idea "Copy EOB info to new EOB" in change:healthcare, inc..

Tink, an employee of change:healthcare, inc., replied on December 19, 2007 16:13 to the question "what if my insurance reimbursement is much lower than the average?" in change:healthcare, inc.:

Well StefB insurances are anything but standard and simple. Typical HMO and PPO plans will cover about 80% of a persons cost. This generally depends on the procedure being done and the deductible the person has on their plan, and whether or not they have met that deductible. If you have not met your deductible the 8% may only be a discount right now.

Also you may want to double check on whether or not you are seeing in-network or out of network physicians.

If your typical medical needs have been office visits with your primary care physician and exams ordered by them, insurance would typically cover more than 8% of the cost.

It can never hurt to call them and ask them to explain why they are only reimbursing a small percent. You may want to makes notes on the conversation in the journal section.

If you still have questions please email me at kwelty@changehealthcare.com and I will give you a call to help you further. It would be my pleasure.

Happy Holidays!

Tink started following the question "what if my insurance reimbursement is much lower than the average?" in change:healthcare, inc..

Matt Mueller, an employee of change:healthcare, inc., replied on September 17, 2007 19:39 to the problem "everytime i attempt to edit a service date from 7/1 to 7/31 it ignores the change" in change:healthcare, inc.:

Just so you know, this issue has been fixed. Thanks again for reporting it.

Tink set one of Tink's replies as an official response to "everytime i attempt to edit a service date from 7/1 to 7/31 it ignores the change" in change:healthcare, inc.