BILLING QUESTIONS
Welcome to Burgess Health Center Patient Financial Services.
Correspendence may be mailed to:
Burgess Health Center
1600 Diamond St.
Onawa, IA 51040
Attn: Patient Financial Services
Should you have questions about your hospital bill or if
you would like to request an itemized statement from us, please
call 712-423-2311. Our Office Hours are Monday thru Friday
7:30 am to 4pm. You may call and leave a message outside of
our normal office hours.
Methods of payment accepted on accounts are: cash, check,
Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover.
Burgess Health Center's Patient Financial Services department
is pleased to provide the service of filing insurance for
our patients. We request that you present your insurance card
at the time of registration to help insure accurate and prompt
payment on your account. Prior to admission, please review
your insurance carrier's requirements for pre-certification
and/or pre-authorization. Insurance carriers often reduce
benefit payments if their protocol is not followed. If you
have more than one insurance plan, please be sure to bring
your insurance cards for those plans as well. Our Admissions
area will make copies of your insurance cards for our records.
If at any time you receive a statement from us that you believe
should have been billed to an insurance carrier, please contact
us immediately at 712-423-2311.
Commonly asked questions:
- How will I know how much I owe?
You will receive a statement from us approximately a week
after your insurance has processed your claim and forwarded
payment to us. If you are private pay, you will receive
a statement from us approximately a week following the date
of your services. Your statement will show the balance due
from you. We do not bill you if we expect payment from your
insurance company. If at any time you receive a statement
showing a balance that you do not believe is due from you,
please contact us immediately.
- How much of my bill do I really owe?
Your balance is due in full when you receive your statement.
If you feel you have extenuating circumstances and can not
afford to pay your account in full, please contact the Patient
Financial Services department to arrange a payment plan.
Please be prepared to discuss your extenuating circumstances.
In some instances, financial assistance may be available.
- Why do I need to pay when I have insurance?
Most insurance plans, as well as Medicare require that you
pay a portion of your care. This is generally in the form
of a plan deductible and a copayment amount. Your insurance
plan informs us what amount we are to bill to you for your
deductible and copayment amounts. In addition, there may
be charges that your insurance plan considers noncovered,
and may tell us to bill to you.
- What are the ways I can pay on my account?
You may send payment through the mail in the form of check
or credit card payment upon receipt of your statement. You
may pay on your accounts in person by stopping by the Admissions
area. Acceptable payment in person is cash, check and credit
card. You do not need to wait to receive a statement in
the mail if you want to pay in person. You may also make
a payment over the phone using a major credit card by contacting
the Patient Financial Services department at 712-423-2311.
- Why am I asked so many questions when I register at the
Admissions area?
It is important that we have accurate information to identify
you when we file your insurance claims, as well as to insure
you receive prompt statements on your accounts. We also
need accurate information to insure that we can contact
a family member in case of an emergency.
- I have been in multiple times and so has my child, so
we receive multiple statements. Can these be combined?
Multiple accounts for the same person, or multiple accounts
for immediate family members may be combined by contacting
the Patient Financial Services department at 712-423-2311,
and requesting that specific accounts be combined. If you
are on a payment plan and you combine multiple accounts,
your payments will stay the same in total.
- I don't agree with how much my insurance company has paid
on my bill. What do I do?
Contact your insurance company immediately. Ask them to
explain the payment amount. If your insurance company agrees
to review your claim, find out who you are talking to and
record the information for future reference. Ask them for
a date by which they will complete their review and whether
they will call you back or whether you need to call them
back. If you do not hear back from them by the date they
give you, call them back on that date. If the insurance
company feels the bill was paid correctly and you still
disagree, find out from the insurance company what you need
to do to file an "appeal" with them. Keep us informed
of the conversations you have so that we are aware you are
addressing the situation.
- I was hurt at work. Will the hospital file my Worker's
Compensation claims for me?
Yes, we will bill worker's compensation insurance as long
as the patient provides us with the information.
- I had an auto accident. Will the hospital file my medical
liability claims for me?
Yes, we will bill the patient's liability insurance as long
as the patient provides us with the information. Burgess
Health Center does not become involved in liability disputes.
- I am covered by Medicare. Why am I being billed?
If you have provided your Medicare information upon admissions,
we will always bill Medicare before sending a statement
to you. You will receive a statement from us after Medicare
pays, and notifies us of the portion we should bill to you.
Medicare determines what amount you owe us.
- I am covered by Medicare and a supplemental insurance.
Why am I being billed?
If you have provided your Medicare and supplemental insurance
information upon admissions, we will bill Medicare and your
supplemental insurance. Medicare will determine what they
will pay and they will inform us what we should bill to
your supplemental insurance. Your supplemental insurance
will process the claim we file, determine their payment,
and determine the amount we need to bill to you. This amount
may vary depending on your copay and deductible amounts,
and on whether you received any Medicare non-covered services.
- Why doesn't Medicare pay for all the services provided
to me?
Similar to commercial insurance companies, Medicare may
require you to contribute towards the cost of your care,
in the form of deductibles and copay amounts. Medicare may
also consider some services to be non-covered, or not medically
necessary. Please read your Medicare Handbook for further
detail regarding services they consider to be non-covered.
- I have Medicare and I was asked to sign a form called
an ABN when I was in last time for services, and now I'm
being billed for the service because Medicare didn't pay
for the service. What is this about?
There are some services that Medicare only pays for in certain
circumstances and for certain types of illnesses or diagnoses.
Please read your Medicare Handbook for further detail regarding
these types of services.
An example might be a type of lab test ordered by your physician.
Your physician believes this test should be performed and
discusses this with you. Medicare doesn't feel this type
of lab test is medically necessary for your diagnosis. In
this situation, we will ask you to sign an ABN, or Advanced
Beneficiary Notification form, to inform you that your physician
has requested a test that Medicare will not pay for and
does not consider medically necessary based on the diagnosis
provided to us by your physician. This form allows us to
bill you for the service performed, since you have acknowledged
you are aware Medicare will not pay. You have the option
not to have the test performed, and not to sign the ABN.
If you were to select this option, we recommend that you
discuss the issue with your physician to see whether there
is additional information to support your having the test
so that Medicare will consider it medically necessary.
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