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Primary Care Coding Alert

Reader Questions:

Beware Tacking on Additional Patient Charges

Published on Wed Aug 04, 2010

Question: Can you charge a processing fee or a "statement" fee to past due patients when we have to send a bill?Minnesota SubscriberAnswer: While charging a statement or processing fee, charging interest on late payments, or even adding on a flat percentage when they send the overdue bill to a collection agency may be tempting to help offset the additional costs your practice incurs by having to bill a past-due patient, it could set your practice up for major problems.Here's why: Some payers, including Medicare, do not allow you to charge patients extra charges. With Medicare, you cannot bill for any charges other than those listed in the Medicare Fee Schedule. With private payers, whether or not you can bill a statement fee depends on the contract you have with the payer. Additionally: In some states, it may be illegal for you to charge your patients an interest payment or [...]
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