Billing Corner:
Overcome Primary vs. Secondary Payer Woes with Answers to Your FAQs
Published on Tue May 15, 2012
Start with the basics and then move on to learning the intricacies. When a patient is covered by two insurance companies, such as patients whose employer and spouse's employer both provide health benefits, claims processing can be confusing. Add in differing payer claims processes and patients who might not give you all the information you need, and primary and secondary payer cases can lead to reimbursement loss -- not to mention biller headaches. You can maximize your practice's reimbursement and reduce the costs of administering claims for patients covered by more than one payer if you understand coordination of benefits (COB) and how both insurers are supposed to pay. Take a look at these first three questions -- with answers from the experts -- to get the scoop on what you need to do to ensure you're on the right track with multiple payer billing situations. 1. What Does Coordination of Benefits Even [...]