Cheap Insurance

Insurance Information


What Should I Do About Billing Problems When Using HSA Money?

UK Customers: Get 10% off Zurich Car Insurance when you buy online.

Buy Now


If you run into a billing problem or misunderstanding with a hospital or doctor's office for which you're planning to use money from your Health Savings Account (HSA), you could be in trouble.

This article will help you understand how hospital and doctor visits are different when paying with a Health Savings Account. Not better or worse, just different.

If you have an HSA, you must have health insurance. It's a requirement. However, if you are using money from your HSA, it means that you haven't hit the deductible of your policy yet.

In this particular situation, life is a bit different when it comes to resolving billing disputes with hospitals.

Insurance companies have a comprehensive system for dealing with billing disputes when they have covered a hospital stay or doctor visit. But when they haven't covered it because you are still within your deductible, that comprehensive dispute resolution system doesn't necessarily apply.

Here are some points to keep in mind when you are dealing with a hospital in a billing dispute, and you have paid with HSA money. I learned these important points when I was talking to an expert in this field named Dr. Vincent Riccardi, who is the owner of American Medical Consumer (www.medconsumer.com), a company dedicated to helping people resolve billing disputes with hospitals and doctors.

Here's what Dr. Riccardi has to say:

  • First, discuss the issue with your physician. Sometimes the problem stems from an incorrectly applied billing code and the doctor can easily change it to please the hospital and resolve the problem on the spot.
  • Negotiate in person. Especially if you just don't have the money to pay a bill, it makes the best sense to negotiate face-to-face with the person at the hospital who has the authority to reverse or reduce the charges. Hospitals would often rather be paid part of a bill than risk losing the entire bill. Be honest and forthright and you may have a good chance in negotiating a reduced fee from the hospital. This includes the situations where it was a misunderstanding on your part. It's at least worth a try.
  • Don't bother going to the State Medical Board. In most cases, they are not able to help you. This is the case with most government agencies. Even the Departments of Insurance cannot help, because this isn't an insurance problem, it is technically a fee-for-service situation.
  • Recourse to a lawyer is usually not fruitful unless there is a big amount involved. For amounts less than $5,000 (which is what most HSA-style deductibles are), a lawyer probably won't be able to help you.
  • Remember that the only things that count in negotiations like this are the things that have been written down. If a doctor mentioned something to you but didn't write it down, it probably won't help you. Get things in writing all the way through the process.
  • I think of HSAs as a way to "be your own insurance company" for the small stuff (under your deductible). That is its power. But it also means that when it comes to disputes, you also have to "be your own insurance company" and take charge of the negotiations with the hospital, just like an insurance company would. Your willingness and ability to negotiate will influence your ability to get unfair charges reversed or, at least, lessened. But it's a "do it yourself" situation, so be aware of that when you sign up for an HSA.

    Daryl Kulak is the author of the book "Health Insurance Off the Grid - A Wonderful Way to Use Alternative Medicine and Save Money on Insurance Using the New Health Savings Account (HSA)."

    The book provides a nine-step plan to get your self-employed or small business health insurance costs under control using a unique approach you won't find anywhere else. The book is available for sale as an e-Book or paperback at the Website http://www.healthoffthegrid.com


    MORE RESOURCES:

    Insurance.com Hires Steve Peyton as Vice President of Business ...
    MarketWatch - 55 minutes ago
    Steve will be responsible for developing initiatives to increase web traffic and revenue for Insurance.com, a site which allows customers to instantly ...


    Infinity Insurance Organizes Child Safety Day
    MarketWatch - 9 hours ago
    LOS ANGELES, Nov 19, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Infinity Insurance has partnered with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to ...


    Los Angeles Times

    What Securitization Problem? The FDIC Weighs In
    New York Times, United States - 14 hours ago
    By Joe Nocera I got a call on Monday from Sheila Bair, the chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and Michael H. Krimminger, ...
    FDIC chief Sheila Bair could have role on Obama team Los Angeles Times
    CORRECT: Modified mortgages often re-default MarketWatch
    FDIC chief presses for gov't action on mortgages The Associated Press
    Reuters - Wall Street Journal Blogs
    all 977 news articles


    Won't Panic Selling Falling Shares Just Increase Insurance Premiums?
    MarketWatch - 6 hours ago
    Effects on insurance premiums: Each shareholder is obviously not the only person in the stock market. The insurers also heavily invest in it. ...
    Homeowners insurance in the wake of the firestorms Los Angeles Times
    all 12 news articles


    ABC News

    Insurance Bailout Requests Raise Concerns
    ABC News - 3 hours ago
    By ALICE GOMSTYN Some two months after the government first announced its multi-billion dollar bailout of insurance giant AIG, more insurance companies are ...
    Genworth Files for Savings and Loan Holding Company Status Housing Wire
    all 6 news articles


    OneBeacon Insurance Introduces OneChoice CustomPac in New Hampshire
    MarketWatch - 16 hours ago
    OneChoice CustomPac from OneBeacon Insurance provides a true blanket limit, which offers excellent value at a time of loss by combining limits for a ...


    Boston Globe (registration)

    Clinton Takes the Lead -- on Health Insurance Reform
    Washington Post, United States - 16 hours ago
    Clinton will lead "a committee working group" on insurance coverage, Kennedy announced, while Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) will oversee a subgroup on prevention ...
    Kennedy Names Clinton to a Role on Health-Care Plan (Update3) Bloomberg
    A working group for Clinton Politico
    Ted Kennedy asks Hillary Clinton to head Senate healthcare team Los Angeles Times
    Kaiser network.org - MedPage Today
    all 423 news articles


    AIG May Influence Sector Pricing Rebound
    Barron's - 22 hours ago
    WE BELIEVE THE PROPERTY/CASUALTY insurance industry is unique in the ability to make lemonade out lemons, or to put it another way, the worse the results, ...
    HCC Insurance Holdings to Present At FBR Capital Markets Investor ... CNNMoney.com (press release)
    all 6 news articles


    SmartAboutHealth

    NY Probes Student Insurance
    Washington Post, United States - Nov 17, 2008
    The American College Health Association encourages schools to require students to have health insurance, and 57 percent of schools do, said Dana Mills, ...
    Georgetown subpoenaed about student health insurance The Georgetown Voice
    Cuomo Investigating Colleges’ Deals with Health Insurers New York Times
    New York AG Examines Colleges’ Relationships With Health Insurers NextStudent
    HULIQ (press release) - dBTechno
    all 13 news articles


    Rediff

    AIG India Head: Insurance JV Operations With Tata Group To Continue
    CNNMoney.com - Nov 17, 2008
    NEW DELHI -(Dow Jones)- The Indian unit of American International Group Inc. ( AIG) will continue its insurance joint ventures with the Tata Group and run ...
    AIG lobbied for US-India nuclear deal Rediff
    The Professor’s Pop Quiz: Who Controls AIG? New York Times
    Fed Seeks Advisers to Manage AIG Assets in Bailout (Update1) Bloomberg
    Reuters - Forbes
    all 81 news articles

    Insurance - Google News

    Cheap Insurance | Car Insurance Glossary | Zurich Insurance | Cheap Car Insurance | Car Insurance Quotes | Classic Car Insurance | Articles | Insurance | site map
    © 2007 www.thecheapinsurance.co.uk - Cheap Car, Auto and Home Insurance