Physician Advocate Tip of the Month: Verifying your patients' eligibility and benefits March 7, 2014 Physician Advocate Tip of the Month CMA Center for Economic Services, Mitzi Young, Physician Advocate, Physician Advocate Tip of the Month, Physician Resources, Practice Management 0 March Tip: Verifying your patients' eligibility and benefits in 2014 may save your practice thousands of dollars The beginning of a new year means calendar year deductibles and visit frequency limitations start over. Remember, with open enrollment there may be changes to patients' benefit plans, or they may even be insured through a new payor. Physicians are urged at this time of the year to be diligent in verifying patients' eligibility and benefits to ensure that you will be paid for services rendered. And don't forget that under the ACA, patients receiving premium assistance through federal tax subsidies are given a 90-day grace period in which to pay their portion of the premium. During the first 30 days of the grace period, the plans must pay for services incurred. However, during days 31-90 of the grace period, plans are allowed to suspend the patient's coverage Don't get stuck with unnecessary denials or an upset patient. Do your homework before the patient arrives by obtaining updated insurance information at the time of scheduling, if possible, and making copies of the insurance card at the time of the visit. Receiving practice management guidance from Mitzi is a FREE OCMA member benefit! Contact Mitzi to schedule a one-on-one consultation to discuss your practice management needs: Mitzi Young Physician Advocate, CMA Center for Economic Services 888.236.0267 myoung@cmanet.org Comments are closed.