With medical billings skyrocketing in the past few years, consumers are left with no choice but to comply with such expenses. Even through means such as insurance companies or credit services that can somewhat help the consumers, reports show that people in the US alone owe around $220 Billion in medical debt.
Healthcare service providers must take numerous steps to ensure their medical billing debt collection remains optimized and does not disrupt their operations. Whether through in-house resources or third party medical debt collection that can remove medical debt, healthcare service providers and patients are exploring all possible avenues to ensure a streamlined medical debt process.
What is Medical Billing Debt Collection
Just like any other debt, medical billing debt collection refers to the pending invoices that patients are due for the services provided by healthcare institutions.
There isn’t a set scale for expenses regarding medical billings. Some services require a couple hundred dollars at max, while other procedures can reach up to tens of thousands of dollars. Whatever the case, healthcare service providers are bound to implement medical billing debt collection through collection efforts such as debt notices, multiple follow-ups, and much more. In scenarios where such efforts lead to no success, as the patient doesn’t clear up their expenses, the medical debt process is handed over to patient debt collection agencies. These agencies have the required experience to carry out medical billing debt collection and are equipped with resources to undergo the medical debt process faster.
How Does The Medical Debt Process Work
Medical billing debt collection impacts consumers globally, with stats showing that medical debt alone is responsible for 58% of debt turned to collectors. In such cases, it is vital for patients to understand how healthcare billing collection works and what options they have to ensure timely efforts to deal with their medical billing collection.
Contacting The Insurance Companies
In standard procedures, once the patients have received the medical services, the invoices are sent to the relevant insurance companies as the first step of the medical billing debt collection. For patients who don’t have healthcare insurance, the medical billing debt collection is then directly dealt with the patients, which could result in a hefty invoice for the patients to handle alone as the insurance companies are responsible for taking care of significant companies.
Debt Notices
Once the insurance company is contacted, the remaining medical billing debt collection invoices are sent to the patients in the form of a debt notice that must be cleared up within a specific time frame. Although the period allotted for the dues can vary depending on the healthcare service providers, the average due date is roughly 30 days after the invoices are sent.
In cases where the patient cannot clear the medical billing debt collection, there are instances where the healthcare providers send a second reminder with a total due date of 60 days after the invoices for patient debt collection are sent to the patients.
Internal Efforts for Medical Billing Debt Collection
From here on out, if the patient still does not pay the unpaid invoices, healthcare service providers must implement in-house collection efforts such as debt follow-ups, healthcare billing collection communication, providing payment plans, etc.
Outsourcing Third-Party Agencies for Patient Debt Collection
When all internal efforts fail, healthcare service providers must approach third-party debt collection agencies such as Cedar Financial. These agencies can streamline medical debt collection and offer industry-leading services that foster positive relations between all parties involved.
The debt collection agency is then responsible for clearing up the medical billing debt collection through recovery, which starts with a detailed notice, including the relevant information about the medical debt process. After investing in available collection attempts such as communication, negotiations, flexible payment plans, and negotiation efforts, the collection agency reports the medical billing debt collection to the Credit Bureau, which initiates legal practices such as court proceedings, lawsuits, etc. From here on out, all entities involved focus on ensuring that the patient either pays the amount due or receives compensation through debt settlements to ensure the medical billing debt collection gets cleared up.
What Are the Things To Look For In The Medical Billing Debt Collection
Reports suggest that the rate of people with medical debt in collections exceeds 40% in some regions of the US. For transparent medical billing debt collection, certain factors need to be kept in focus by both healthcare service providers and patients.
Review the Billings In Patient Debt Collection
It is advised that both healthcare service providers and patients look for errors in the invoices. These reviews will not only help make the medical billing debt collection process more transparent, but they can also assist patients in making appeals to insurance companies if they deny payment for certain services.
Financial Assistance and Charity Programs
Before rushing out to clear up the pending invoices for medical billing debt collection, it can be beneficial for the patients to negotiate with the healthcare services providers for flexible payment plans when it comes to the pending invoices. The thing to note here for the patients is to keep an eye on the interest rates that might be included along the flexible payment plans for medical billing debt collection.
Additionally, certain healthcare service providers offer charity programs or financial assistance programs that can help patients cover a portion of the total debt in healthcare billing collection.
Documentation and Records
The medical debt process can be time-consuming, with all entities engaging in multiple communications, negotiations, settlements, etc.
Therefore, it is essential for the healthcare service providers and the patients to document all said communications, as it can help all parties keep the medical billing debt collection as transparent as possible and streamline the verification process. Such efforts especially come in handy when deciding on the negotiations in the medical debt process to see if either party had made any previous commitments.
Hire A Collection Agency
While a collection agency can make matters much smoother in the case of medical billing debt collection, several things need to be check-off before hiring them, such as
- What is their relevant industry experience?
- What are the services they are offering?
- Are they taking the crucial cyber security measures necessary in healthcare billing collection?
- What is their fee structure?
- Do they comply with the regulations and state medical billing debt collection laws?
- What is their market reputation?
- What type of collection strategies do they implement?
How To Pay Off a Medical Debt
Keeping up with medical debts, especially in the age of inflation, can be difficult. In the US alone, around 20 million people have medical debt, most of which owe more than $1000. In such instances, consumers are exploring the resources and options available to manage unpaid invoices in medical billing debt collection without any severe implications for their financial condition.
Review The Billings
As mentioned, reviewing the billings multiple times in medical billing debt collection is essential to ensure no discrepancies or errors. While healthcare service providers are trained professionals, there could still be an element of human error or even a technical mistake that results in patients paying more than what is due.
Consult With the Insurance Company
While insurance companies usually deal with billing patients for medical billing debt collection, there could be cases where certain services get denied payment by the company, which leads to the patient clearing them up on their own. While the insurance company has specific criteria and policies under which these billings in patient debt collection are accepted or denied, consulting with them through appeals can potentially lead to a better alternative.
Negotiate With The Providers
Proper negotiations with healthcare service providers can also relieve some of the burden from the patients in medical billing debt collection through the implementation of payment plans. These plans could give the patients enough leeway to deal with the debt in smaller installments. The negotiations could also be done for an additional time to clear the debt in the medical debt process.
While it is doubtful that healthcare services will reduce the debt during medical billing debt collection without implementing any discounts or assistance programs, negotiating with the service providers can help both entities get on the same page and develop solutions that best suit medical billing debt collection.
Consider Medical Debt Consolidation
When a patient owes multiple medical debts to the same healthcare service providers or to different ones, medical debt consolidation can streamline the medical billing debt collection process to further facilitate the patient’s situation.
Medical debt consolidation involves joining multiple debt payments into one, distributed among the creditors through the financial institutions or consolidation companies outsourced by the patient for such a process. Not only can these companies negotiate on behalf of the patient, but through such consolidation efforts, there could be a positive impact on the patient’s credit score in the case of medical billing debt collection as the number of collector accounts is reduced.
Set Up a Monthly Budget
When it comes to dealing with unpaid invoices during medical billing debt collection, the best way to ensure a streamlined process without missing payments is to set up a monthly budget.
A monthly budget can provide consumers with a clear and concise payment plan to deal with their medical billing debt collection on a timely basis. This allows them to better prioritize their debts amongst other expenses. Such budgets could also be used as leverage by patients to extend their payment plans further in medical billing debt collection.
Does Medical Debt Affect Your Credit Score
With around 15 million Americans having pending medical debts on their credit reports, checking your credit score has been more critical than ever, especially with how medical debt can affect your credit score.
Medical billing debt collection can leave a mark on your credit history because if the debt remains unpaid, it is reported to the Credit Bureau, which can lower the credit score. Also, medical debt during healthcare billing collection can lower your credit score, leading to hindrances when applying for future loans or other credit-related services.
Although, as of 2023, medical debts below $500 will not appear on your credit history, it is still essential for patients to keep up with their medical invoices so that medical billing debt collection does not negatively impact their credit scores.
Are There Any Regulations in Medical Billing Debt Collection
To keep the medical billing debt collection safe, secure, and transparent, the relevant authorities have introduced many regulations as well as states that are to be adhered to by all entities involved in the medical debt process. These include:
- Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA): In medical billing debt collection, the FDCPA ensures that debt collectors do not harass, abuse their power, make false statements, or engage in unfair practices.
- Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA): This regulation pays special attention to the privacy and security of the patient’s data during the medical billing debt collection process by ensuring that minimal information is shared throughout the medical debt process, patients have the right to access their information at will, healthcare providers inform the patients what information is to be shared, enforcing violation consequences such as fine fee and much more.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Regulations: The CFPB focuses on communications from the debt collector’s end, which can prove vital, especially in the case of medical billing debt collection. This includes ensuring accurate and timely debt information, compliance with communication guidelines, the validity of debt, and much more.
- No Surprises Act: As its name suggests, this act aims to ensure that patients are not presented with surprise billings in the medical debt process and prioritizes transparent billings in medical billing debt collection.
- Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA): The FCRA ensures that the debt included in medical billing debt collection is reported correctly on your credit while allowing for flexibility in disputes if an error occurs.
How Can Cedar Financial Boost Your Medical Billing Debt Collection
With over 30 years in accounts receivable management, Cedar Financial has facilitated thousands of consumers and healthcare service providers to streamline their medical billing debt collection. Whether dealing with a $1.9 Million pharmaceutical settlement or a 2-year-old medical insurance dispute resolution, Cedar Financial has exceeded expectations with its consumer-centered approach, global coverage, and industry-leading medical billing debt collection services. Contact Cedar Financial today to start early with your medical billing debt collection.
