Rising medical costs, lack of adequate insurance, unexpected illness and disability have caused financial hardship for many Americans. Each year, more than a million people file bankruptcy petitions and national statistics show that half of them have experienced a serious health problem. According to a 2007 national study on medical bankruptcy in the United States, more than 60% of bankruptcy filings are related to health care costs.

So what happens to medical debt when one files a bankruptcy petition? It is treated the same way as other “unsecured” debt, such as credit card bills and personal loans, meaning that it is not backed up by any specific tangible property and creditors cannot take any specific property from you if you are not able to pay. If a person files Chapter 7 where unsecured debts are completely wiped out, this means that the medical bills are erased as well. If a person files Chapter 13 and creditors are repaid a certain percentage of the debt, medical creditors are partially repaid according to the same plan, and the rest of the debt is erased.

The caveat is that only pre-filing debt is eliminated. Any debt incurred after petition is filed is not dischargeable.

Another caveat is that if medical debt is erased through bankruptcy, potentially an affected health care provider can interrupt or refuse future services. Bigger hospitals and institutions are less affected and less likely to interrupt services. Smaller providers – for example, a dentist with a modest practice – are more affected and more risk-averse.

To minimize effects of possible interruption of services, it is a good idea not to file the bankruptcy petition in the middle of treatment. You may also approach your health care provider and see if there is a way to minimize costs or develop a workable plan to pay for medications and treatment. If the provider is someone you have known for a long time and can trust and would like to maintain a relationship with in the future, often it helps to be upfront about the difficult financial situation you are in, including the possibility that you will be filing bankruptcy. The doctor or dentist will probably be more understanding and more willing to work with you if he or she hears about your hardship directly from you, as opposed to a notice from the bankruptcy court.

Keep in mind that if you have to pay for ongoing treatment, medications or any other medical or dental costs, it’s OK to make these payments, and it’s important to show all these costs in your bankruptcy petition. Unlike some other expenses, medical expenses are not capped in the calculation of how much you are able to repay creditors. They are allowable fully, provided that you can document and explain them.

One final – last, but not the least – point about medical care. If you have any actual or potential pre-filing medical debt that you are seeking to discharge, include this information in the petition even if you are not sure of the amount, even if you are not sure how much insurance would end up covering. Otherwise, if a creditor does not receive proper and timely notice of the bankruptcy filing, you may still be on the hook for the debt.

This situation does come up with some regularity – someone has a costly procedure or surgery, does not disclose the potential debt because the bill has not come in or insurance claim has not been settled, files the bankruptcy case. And then the bill does come in – sometimes for thousands of dollars, which one may have to pay because the creditor was not given proper notice of bankruptcy.

If you have health problems and are considering filing bankruptcy, save yourself from the unnecessary additional headache and fully inform your lawyer of your situation and medical costs.

Experts suggest that as many as 80% of medical bills contain errors! Other experience indicates that about 25% to 30% of these bills show significant errors. An Equifax company audit found an average error of $1,300.00 occurred on hospital bills $10,000.00 or more.

The source of the errors is from care performed by a medical specialist, complex medical procedures, inpatient work, or care delivered by out-of-network providers.

Employees

To any employer that self-insures, there is a direct major impact to costs and employee productivity. Employees who notice deductible creep also take on more of the financial burden because of the errors.

You can help your employees manage medical insurance errors by educating them to:

• Become their own best advocate and diligent in reviewing their bills and insurance documentation
• Look out for red flags like claim rejections, denials or bills that have no matching Explanation of Benefits (EOB) from their insurance company
• Checking for differences between the carrier’s benefits explanation and the provider’s patient balance bill
• Reviewing provider documentation to ensure it accurately reflects the services received

In addition to this being a time-consuming process, it can lead to less productivity at work especially for family members with chronic care conditions.

Employers

Employers can provide employees with services, support, and tools. They can also educate employees with online tutorials, handouts, and seminars. This is to effectively equip employees to advocate for themselves better.

Another approach is to offer a medical billing advocacy or advisory service. These services could include:

• Reviewing bills
• Identifying medical bill errors
• Answering employee questions about ICD codes on the services billed
• Working with healthcare providers to get errors corrected for employee medical bills
• Negotiating costs for services performed by out-of-network providers

When an employer decides to hire a speciality advocate, they need to find an organization with longevity, one that is reputable, and one that can provide data-based statistics on the amount of money the company saved for customers.

Some claim assistance professionals specialize with hospital (or facility), laboratory, mental health, ambulance, doctors’ or other speciality providers. When advocating directly with a consumer, the healthcare claims advocate may charge an hourly fee or work on contingency. If, however, the medical billing advocate company partners with you, the employer direct, their services may be negotiated as an employee health benefit, assisting employees to better navigate and solve health insurance issues.

Once a firm is decided on, the employer needs to make sure the employees know about the services and how and when to contact the billing advocate firm.

Demand for courier facilities is rising incessantly in the recent years due to the rapid industrial growth and high competition in the business world. The scenario in the healthcare industry is no different but the reasons behind this high demand are something you should definitely want to know. People involved in the medical sector – be it pharmacy, hospital, nursing center, or pathological lab genuinely understands the significance of this service. They are the ones who feel that a reliable and efficient courier agency can actually save many lives. Transporting life-saving drugs, medical equipment and organs are the three crucial responsibilities of every company.

Here are the 5 key reasons why courier services are demanded highly by the healthcare sector:

#1 Fast delivery

Almost all the courier companies provide same-day delivery service when it comes to medical equipment, drugs or organs. They completely realize the urgency of delivering these items on time. Hence, they make sure that the speed of their delivery is the fastest in these cases. It is the duty of every service provider to transport the medical supplies at their destination as fast as possible.

#2 Efficient and experienced

The companies have the most efficient and trained staff with long years of experience. Their expertise and superior skill make sure that your medical deliverables will reach the right place at the right time without any hassle. In addition to this, they take immense care while packaging and moving the products because they genuinely know their importance to their customers.

#3 Transportation facility and vehicle used

Courier transport companies give special attention to the types of vehicles used for transporting medical equipment or organs. They make sure that medications, organs are kept refrigerated, and they also keep monitoring and controlling the temperature inside the vehicle. The supplies are preserved very carefully so that they reach the destination in perfect condition.

#4 Trustworthy Service

Having access to a reliable delivery support anytime and anywhere is most important. At times of medical emergencies, the services agencies should not only be readily available on call but should be able to deliver the equipment and organs promptly within the required time frame.

#5 Smooth Communication 24*7

Since courier and delivery companies are dealing with life-saving equipment, drugs, and organs every day, their mode of communication is very efficient. Their customer support is reachable all throughout the day and night and the order can be easily tracked by the hospitals, pharmacies, and family of the patients. They keep getting updates of the deliverables via email, phone, app, and website.

Thus, to conclude the healthcare industry is completely dependent on the courier and dispatch services for the timely delivery of the essential medical kits, equipment, and organs. To earn the trust of the industry, the quality of service should be top-notch.

The increasing regulatory pressures in the hospital system are set to increase the cost of health care delivery to patients. Traditional care models relied on manual techniques to observe patients with chronic disease. This process is not only expensive, but also inefficient with errors.

In outpatient scenarios, the huge escalation in the incidence of long-term chronic conditions is placing an ever-greater burden on over-stretched resources. Patient care models today are ill-equipped to cope with the realities of tomorrows health demands.

In times of recession, many are filling for bankruptcy. Medical related bankruptcies are now dominating them. In a study published by the American Journal of Medicine in June 2009, it showed that health related issues left patients with highest medical expense due to chronic conditions like stroke. Around 92% of medically bankrupt patients, high medical bills were the major contributions to their bankruptcy.

Traditional approaches to health care management

This involves to wait for the disease to develop and then run to the health care provider for solutions. These solutions can be expensive with the use of wide array of diagnosing investigation. If the disease is already progressed, then the cost of treatment of these can be exorbitant.

Some of the scary statistics which come from various studies published in scientific journals show that that Health related expenses for stroke can be as high as $23. 380 per individual. The total cost of stroke to the United States is estimated at $43 billion per year. The direct costs of medical care and therapy are estimated at $28 billion per year. Indirect costs from lost productivity and other factors are estimated at $15 million per year. These facts about stroke are not meant to scare you or shock you. But they are real and you must be aware of them if you want to keep you and your family safe from deadly killer.

Best Solutions to manage your health.

There is a old adage that Apple a day keeps the doctor away. This is much more relevant in the current era. With recession looming all over the world, and business spending for employers cut, In the corporate world, 0. 25% of the companies cancel coverage, if an employee has disabling illness.

Prevention is the key for better health

To better manage these scenarios, it is quite vital that healthcare management begins at home. Adopting healthy lifestyle, by quitting smoking habits and excessive caffeine consumption. Maintaining a healthy diet with regular consumption of green leafy vegetable rich food and cutting down junk food.

Following Regular exercise programs like walking, r unning and jogging. Visiting health care professionals annually if above the age of 40 years for regular health check. In addition to the above, by using simple techniques like

1. Digital Weight scales to check your weight regularly and measure Body Mass Index.

2. Portable ECG/EKG devices to monitor heart rate and any changes in abnormal heart rhythms like Atrial Fibrillation.

3. Portable Hand Held Heart Rate Monitors to check your heart rate while jogging, walking or any sports related activities.

4. Body fat analyzer to check your body fat and analyze it your height and weight.

By following these simple techniques it is possible to avoid the long term high medical expenses for disease management, and also medical related bankruptcies in future.

Many Americans need help with medical bills that keep piling up on their kitchen table. With no money to pay them, these bills only become a source of anxiety. Depending on the state you live in, there are limited options available to assist you with unpaid hospital bills.

A good place to start looking for help with medical bills is by enlisting the services of a medical billing advocate. This is a third party who helps comb through your unpaid medical bills to make sure there are no errors. They also see if pricing is fair on the medical procedures. They can negotiate your debt when paying off hospital bills.

Seeking assistance from your state may be an option, if the state offers programs. Many states offer protection for their constituents against harsh collection practices. Certain states have made it illegal to garnish wages and use other aggressive collection practices for the recovery of unpaid hospital bills. Some states offer health coverage to individuals with no coverage who meets the qualifications. For patients that are diagnosed as terminal or disabled, state and federal governments almost always offer full-coverage programs.

Help with medical expenses will not be necessary if you seek free medical help whenever possible. There are free medical clinics that offer services to anyone in need of medical attention. There are also free prescription programs to aid with the expense of medicines. However, as we all know, medical attention is generally unexpected. Free clinics and free medicine is available in many areas, so take advantage of the free services when you can.

If you find that you do not qualify for any programs or if there is no help with medical bills in your area, you may consider bankruptcy as an option for resolving your unpaid hospital bills. You cannot ignore the bills for long before the hospitals begin collection activity. Be proactive and find the right resolution before your problem gets out of hand. Seek help with medical expenses and get back on your feet now!

Contract manufactured medical devices are widely used in a variety of markets such as critical care, emergency room, home health care and industrial laboratories. The critical care section includes medical devices for respiratory therapy and operating rooms. The emergency room includes the medical devices for the cardiac lab, labor and delivery. Medical devices used in home health care such as a doctor?s office and medical laboratories can also be manufactured on contract basis. Contract manufactured medical products usually include simple tubing sets, very complicated bio-sensors, and even ultra-precision devices made from plastics, metals, electronics and ceramics.

Medical device contract manufacturing companies offer clean room and non-clean room assembly, testing and packaging services for class I, class II and class III medical devices. Class I medical devices do not cause any harm to the user and are very simple in design, compared to the other two devices. In class II devices there are special controls to ensure safety and effectiveness in addition to the general control. Class III devices require pre-market approval to ensure device safety and effectiveness.

Medical device contract manufacturers also provide sterile and non-sterile products. The assembly processes and capabilities of medical device contract manufacturing range from simple products such as tubing sets to ultra precision electro-mechanical devices. Most contract manufacturers deal with high volume disposable and low volume reusable device manufacturing. They also have a full service injection molding program such as injection mold design, fabrication and clean room injection molding. The cost of machines for the injection molding process is high. The design of the right mold is also difficult. Hence most customers go for contract manufacturers for the injection molding processes.

Some medical device contract manufacturers offer ethylene oxide and radiation sterilization coordination. A wide range of process capabilities, giving more care towards the quality, responsiveness and efficient operation are the main features of an ideal medical device contract manufacturer.

Medical device contract manufacturers usually work closely with the original equipment manufacturing companies. The contract manufacturing of medical devices includes traditional, high quality contract manufacturing services. It also introduces automation design and building capabilities.

Sometimes there are just some things that just happen. Unavoidable occurrences such as accidents and illness are things that might happen to us or our loved ones and this is just something that we have to deal with. If you have the money to pay for the medical bills then great. The problem arises when we are unable to find the money to pay for hospital bills. And it’s not just the stay in the hospital that needs payment bills that arise due to treatments have to be paid too. And the more serious the condition of your loved one, the more expensive the treatments tend to be. Naturally this will serve as a problem that needs to be rectified. Here are a couple of tips to help you find medical bills help.

One of the things you can do is to apply for a medical loan. This allows you to finance the treatments needed by you or your loved one without having to go to the extent of selling your possessions. There are a number of banks that offer this service. Ask around if you can. If you don’t know anyone with information you can always check the internet. There are a lot of sites that provide information regarding where and how you can apply for a medical loan.

Secondly, you could go for assistance that is offered by the government. The U.S Federal government in particular has a number of programs that are intended to help people who find difficulty in paying for their bills. Most hospitals will have information regarding these programs of the government so you could first try asking around there. If you can successfully apply and receive these benefits then this will definitely take a load off your back seeing as this method does not require the paying of interest.

Lastly, it would be a good idea to see whether you can avail of tax reductions to help your medical bills. It is not known to many that if your medical bills are more than 7.5% of your monthly income then you can actually deduct your medical expenses off your taxes. You can check the IRS website for the specifics of the program, on what procedures and medical bill payments are covered by the program.

Paying off medical bills does not have to be such a burden. It’s just a matter of knowing where to go for that much needed help.

What exactly is “bundling” anyway? It is when an insurance carrier combines two or more CPT codes, substituting one overarching code, often ignoring modifiers along the way. This practice can cut down on your receivables. When codes are bundled, the codes are grouped together and the insurance carrier will only allow the fee schedule allowance for the one code that they feel is appropriate.

There are ways to get around bundling. First you need to make sure you are billing the claim properly on the initial submission. For example, if you are billing for an E&M code for a patient who comes in with high blood pressure but the patient is also complaining of knee pain and you end up doing an aspiration of the knee joint, then you need to make sure you use the correct modifiers to indicate what you are doing. You want to bill the E&M code, say it is a 99213, with a 25 modifier to indicate that it is a separate and distinct service provided during the same visit. Then you would bill for the aspiration of the knee joint with the appropriate code using a 59 modifier to indicate a distinct procedural service.

It is quite necessary to know the proper use of all the different modifiers to get full reimbursement for your services. Also as important is the ability to read an EOB (explanation of benefits statement) correctly. EOBs can be fairly complicated and it is important to understand what the insurance company did with the claim.

When the claim is processed and you receive the EOB you need to make sure the insurance company allowed both codes separately. After all, you did an office visit to manage to high blood pressure and you did the aspiration which was completely separate from the office visit.

If the insurance carrier bundles your codes you should file an appeal. In many cases the insurance carrier will reprocess the claim and unbundled the codes if you go through the appeal process.

The appeal does not have to be complicated. It can be a form letter that you design where you just need to fill in the blanks. A lot of carriers bundle the claims on initial processing because the majority of offices will not appeal the claim. Just think how much money they save!

You may think that it’s not worth the time to appeal but you may be surprised if you knew how much money you actually lost over time. If you have a system in place to file the appeals that is a fairly simple process it won’t take much time and you can increase your receivables. In my opinion, it is worth the effort.

Copyright 2007 – Michele Redmond

In the matter of all medical problems, being hospitalized is the toughest one. To determine this, a study has been conducted which says that it is considered as the most painful financial impact on the lives of the human. It has been found that there is 20% of the decrease in the earnings and 11% of the decrease in the employment that is creating negative impacts due to several health problems of the people.

People usually prefer health insurance services but that does not include full insurance. It is not due to the reason like cost-sharing and high-deductibles but health insurance ensures the economic consequences of poor health. From the records of various hospitals, it has been found that around 7,80,000 people with health insurance on the rough basis and about 1,50,000 are without the policy of health insurance, which further defines the income and expenditure capacity of the people and the family where at least one person is suffering from serious health problems.

The study also shows that people who have health problems and leading to a hospital have worse access to their credits. They have a large number of unpaid medical bills and expenditure. This problem can be resolved to a certain extent through medical insurance with Best Placement Colleges but a long-term and serious medical issue plays a significant role even after this insurance policy and services.

Above mentioned data is entirely based on the self- reported survey. It helps in quantifying the cause and effect relationships between different kinds of serious medical problems and different financial implications faced by the people. This data has also helped in establishing the method of altering economic trajectories of the individuals through their hospitalization functioning.

From all the studies; it has been found that the List of Engineering Colleges and hospitalization leads to the terrible economic consequences which create multiple scenarios at a time in the country. There are certain aspects which help in determining serious health problems that include people’s ability to work, lack in interested towards employers and reduction in the likelihood of new searching and jobs which has the high range of payee.

Due to this, it has become very significant to define various research and experiments as there are also people who have never been to hospitals in their previous lives and examine changes to the different economic situation of events that are constantly occurring. It helps in triggering different financial effects to the people who are working. This made the conclusion that it is the most casual relationship without any correlation to any other state.

With all the talk about swine flu, epidemics and pandemics, it is no wonder the general public gets a bit edgy about the possibility of becoming ill. But there is another type of epidemic associated with healthcare, only this epidemic will not make you physically ill. But it may leave your physician financially debilitated.

The issue facing your physician is cash flow and the epidemic is the amount of time it takes many doctors and medical facilities to get paid by those responsible for medical reimbursements. Typically, these are the payments provided by Medicare, Medicaid and health insurance companies. Once your doctor provides a service to you and the other patients of his or her practice, the bills for this service, less your co-pay, is forwarded on to a third-party. Then the waiting game begins.

At any given time, your doctor may be awaiting payments totaling tens-of-thousands of dollars. Meanwhile, rent, salaries, supplies, insurance and all of the expenses of running a business must be paid. Granted, awaiting payment from clients and customers is a problem in virtually every industry. But when you are relying on complex bureaucracies like the Federal government and major health insurance for the vast majority of your revenue, the delays can be a major financial challenge.

To address and rectify this ongoing dilemma, many medical practitioners and facilities are taking advantage of companies that provide a solution in the form of medical receivables factoring. Simply stated, a factoring company advances cash to a business based on the anticipated revenues from the invoices they have issued. In the case of the medical industry, these would be claims for reimbursement. These medical invoices are stated as accounts receivables in financial records. As such, they are considered assets since, eventually, they should be collected.

Typically, a factoring company will issue up to 85% of the value of these invoices to the physician immediately. The balance, less a fee for providing the factoring service, is forwarded to the physician once the invoices have been paid. Fees for medical invoice factoring can be as little as 1-½ % or as high as 5%, depending on the assessment by the factoring company of the financial health of the physicians practice and the confidence the factor has of being paid for the invoices.

Medical receivables financing addresses another issue that affects all of us. There is currently a fairly dramatic shortage of physicians in the United States. Part of the problem is the financial challenges of running a successful practice whether as a general practitioner, a specialist or as a member of a hospital staff. Doctors spend years in training and incur significant debt to finance their education. When they finally become fully licensed and certified and can begin earning significant income in their own practice, further debt is incurred as startup expense and medical malpractice insurance is astronomical.

Under these circumstances, positive cash flow is critical. Waiting anywhere from one to three months for payment can compromise the financial health of a physician. And if these financial realities remain as a significant deterrent to qualified individuals that otherwise would enter the medical field, the physician shortage will only worsen. And, eventually, more and more Americans will go without proper healthcare, not because of lack of health insurance, but for want of a healthcare provider.

Medical accounts receivable financing is not the solution to the financial challenges faced by doctors. But receivables factoring is a legitimate and increasingly utilized method of remaining financially solvent by both healthcare providers and other industries especially with the current tight credit policies.

So next time you present your insurance card at your doctor’s office for that routine checkup, you will be aware that, while your doctor may have just recorded a payment due of $125 for the visit, he or she may not see that money for quite some time, unless, however, they have taken the prudent step of engaging in medical invoice factoring.

Here’s to your financial health!