It is a good question to ask what is really going on with insurance companies’ billing practices. In response to this question I am going to offer up my own personal experience as a newly licensed obgyn physician in California. I am a doctor, I have been licensed for almost two decades, and I have written several articles on the topic.
Many insurance companies like to bill you for a service that is not provided. The problem is, if it is not provided, then the insurance company can’t actually pay for it. They are able to bill the services only if they can prove that they provided the service. In other words, the insurance company can’t actually pay for it, but they can bill the service anyway.
This is why it is so important to keep up with your insurance. The way an insurance company calculates the amount of your bill is based on the amount of the service. When you are dealing with a medical billing or physician billing problem, it is crucial that you keep up with your insurance to prevent you from having to pay for the service that they do not provide. If you are not paying for it, then the insurance company can no longer bill you.
When you get an email from your doctor or hospital telling you that you owe $100, your bill is going to go up to $120. If you have no insurance and you do not pay for it, or if you fail to keep up with your bills, you are going to have to pay $100 for the service you did not receive. This is why it is important to make sure you have an up-to-date insurance contract.
Obgyns are a very common medical billing practice, but the current contract they have with their insurance company is outdated. In other words, you are going to have to pay 100, because the insurance company has decided to take their time instead of giving you a prompt response when you first call. It’s a good thing, too, because the health insurance companies are getting increasingly stingy with their rate increases.
I know this is going to sound like a rant, but I have to say that having an up-to-date insurance contract is one of the best things you can do to avoid having to deal with the insurance companies. Because if you have an old contract that doesn’t cover you, you end up paying more than you need to for the services you are actually using and that saves you a ton of money.
A medical insurance contract is a contract between you and a health care provider. It says exactly what you have to pay for and in what amount, as well as who is responsible if you have a problem and there is a problem. The most important part is that when you pay for services, you have to pay on time and in full. If you don’t, the provider can take that money and start charging you more.
When you go to get your medical treatment, the provider makes some estimate of the cost and tells you the actual cost. In most cases, it is the insurance provider that is making the estimate. If you are very unlucky, the provider you are trying to get treatment from will make the estimate with you in mind, then put a price on the services that they are going to charge you. They will often have a “cost per use” figure.
The insurance industry seems to be able to do this a lot. For instance, before the ACA the average patient paid about $400 to see a doctor. After the ACA, the average patient is now spending less than $100. Of course, every insurance plan has some variation of the old system. Some say the ACA is forcing them to adopt a new system. Some have said they are taking an insurance payer bailout.
I think the point is that it is hard to get insurance companies to really value the patient’s time. Insurance companies want to know if a patient can afford their bill. If a patient can afford it, they will do it (unless the patient is a low risk, which is then rare). If the patient cannot afford the bill, then the insurance company will not pay, thus the patient gets nothing. This is why the ACA is the best thing to ever happen to the healthcare industry.
