Have You Met Your Deductible Yet?

If your office staff is having to ask patients for payments but don’t want to ask “Have you met your deductible yet?” so that they can help ease a financial burden.

More and more, medical offices and practitioners are offering services that can help patients pay larger out of pocket expenses for medical services over time, with no penalty.  The latest TransAct services allow medical providers to break fees into smaller recurring payments which are more budget friendly for their patients.

Looking back on tax paperwork for 2018 and comparing to records from just four years ago, it was shocking to realize that out-of-pocket maximums are four times more than they were in 2014.

WOW! Whatever your political stance is on the changes in the healthcare mandates, the reality is for most American’s the expense of health insurance has risen. Many have opted for a high deductible plan with the assumption that they will not need overly expensive medical care.

However, this means often times a charge that may not be covered until the high deductible is met. Expenses for laboratory diagnostics or imaging can be as high as $500 to $1,500 (or higher).  Even though medically necessary and prescribed by a medical practitioner, the expense is more than a patient might have planned to pay in a lump sum payment.

Consider too, common medical appliances such as contact lenses, progressive glasses, and hearing aids that can exceed that range at the low end, cost even more, up to $2,000 or $3,000 and are often not covered as part of a health care plan. Even if they are, they won’t be covered until the deductible is met.

Many of our medical office clients have opted for new services, such as easy to set up payment plans, which allow for automated recurring credit card payment, e-Check and ACH authorization. Each are safe and secure to initiate and the patient can choose from the options offered.

We recommend offering all three to patients, with the latter two being the lowest cost option to the office owner and management team. The upside is positive. The patient is relieved to be able to receive the necessary tests, buy new medical appliances, and still budget the monthly payment plan which is automatically processed.  Also, the office staff doesn’t have an added burden of printing and mailing invoices, or, waiting to collect.

Overall there are a lot of changes happening in the industry and this is just one way that we are working to help keep up with the changing times, reduce overhead, decrease labor costs, and facilitate predictable revenue streams that every business owner needs. Learn more in a quick 20 minute call this week. Click here to reach out to us.