Health care costs continue to rise, and so do insurance premiums. As a result, employers and insurance companies continue to increase patient financial responsibilities in order to manage the escalating costs of health insurance.
The increased patient financial responsibilities result in higher copayments, coinsurance amounts and deductibles.
Because of these increases, UTMB is modifying collection policies for patient financial responsibility, which will be consistent with collection practices across the health care industry. The services affected include clinic visits, elective surgical procedures and other elective procedures such as imaging, endoscopy, cardiac catheterization, etc.
All patients with financial responsibility, including those with commercial insurance or Medicare and those who are self-insured, will be expected to pay the full portion of their costs (copay, coinsurance amounts and deductibles) at the time of service or in advance of an elective procedure.
These modifications will begin Feb. 1 for clinic visits, Feb. 15 for elective surgeries and March 1 for elective non-surgical procedures, etc.
With the new year, new training will be available for employees who are required to communicate with patients regarding these policies.
UTMB patients enrolled in MyChart have access to review and pay their health care bills online. This is the fastest, most efficient way for patients to take care of outstanding balances and make payments. Patients should be encouraged to enroll in MyChart for an opportunity to be more in control of their care and financial responsibility.