• Deductibles usually start over at the first of the calendar year. If your baby is born at the first of the year, your entire deductible will be subtracted from your claim. Parents that have delivered babies with midwives over several years might wondered why the insurance paid more on one birth than another. If you had a baby in December of 2018, your deductible might have already been satisfied with other claims. If you have a baby in January 2020, your deductible could be starting over. Sometimes a lower payment is due to the amount of the deductible that is subtracted from the claim; while, other times the insurance may have made an error in calculating the correct pay out.
• Some insurance companies describe maternity services as surgery. We submit claims for normal births but we don't get a say in how the insurance describes birth. If you have questions concerning your claims, contact us. We love answering your questions.
• Patients usually have an online portal to verify the status of claims. If you don't see the claims we filed, contact us and we can provide you electronic proof of submission.
• Sometimes it takes the patient and provider working together to obtain payment. Three-way calls with us, you, and the insurance help streamline communications; otherwise, the patient calls and the insurance blames the provider or the provider calls and the insurance blames the patient. When all three parties are on a call, accountibility demands honesty.
• Respond promptly to any requests for additional information from your insurance company. This is usually called a Coordination of Benefits and is most common in the first quarter of a new year but can be required at any time of the year.
• Confirm that your mailing address is up-to-date with your insurance. We would hate for a check to go to an old address!
• Communication is vital to claims processing quickly.