COPAYS, COINSURANCE AND FEES EVERYWHERE
As we have expected, copays are now being applied to services which did not require one in the recent past. We all know that all insurance policies are getting more expensive and providing very limited benefits. To make these policies more affordable, insurance companies are passing the service costs to you, the patient. Lower monthly premiums will translate into either higher DEDUCTIBLES or COINSURANCE percentages. Besides this, some policies will process in network benefits and assign a COPAY to services that in the past did not require one.
Lately we have seen this shift on our BCBS patients. Unfortunately most of our patients are vaguely aware of what their responsibilities are based on their policies and it becomes our job to explain to them how their claims are being processed in order to collect what their insurance is assigning as their responsibilities. We ask our patients to learn more about their policies and how they work in order to get the best out of their existing benefits.