Doctor wants my credit card on file and auth to automatically charge a minimum of up to $100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It sucks but if you refuse the doctor doesn't have to treat your kid. So you kind of have to weigh the hassle of finding a new doc (who may soon have this policy too).

Huh?
I thought doctors had to treat a patient regardless of the payment. Hippocratic oath

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sucks but if you refuse the doctor doesn't have to treat your kid. So you kind of have to weigh the hassle of finding a new doc (who may soon have this policy too).

Huh?
I thought doctors had to treat a patient regardless of the payment. Hippocratic oath

Only in an emergency room, and that’s by law, not by oath.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sucks but if you refuse the doctor doesn't have to treat your kid. So you kind of have to weigh the hassle of finding a new doc (who may soon have this policy too).

Huh?
I thought doctors had to treat a patient regardless of the payment. Hippocratic oath

Not private doctors. If that were the case, a lot of people would demand treatment without payment.

[Anonymous]

Tell them you don't have a credit card.

[Anonymous]

What’s the big deal, you can always dispute a charge with the credit card company.

[Anonymous]

I know some practices are moving towards this because of all the hassles/back and forth with billing but I would not do it. We have had insurance reimburse after months of back and forth (and we have great insurance) and my concern would be that the practice would just charge after 60 days or something.

Also, even though we have had the same ped for 10+ years I don't want them having that info in the event that we change for some other reason.

[Anonymous]

Behold the future of medical care in the United States. Ugh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What’s the big deal, you can always dispute a charge with the credit card company.

I wonder if you can dispute the charge if you have signed something that authorized them to charge your card.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you can’t work out a compromise, I would walk. Because if you give them a different guarantee of being paid, why do they need your credit card?

Because they want to get paid without hassle and the consequent expense to them, and they don't want to set up something special for the OP? I'm surprised at the level of vehemence and distrust here toward doctors whom you're entrusting with your health.

Entrusting your doctor with your health is one thing, entrusting her sloppy front office workers with my credit card is another.

This. So many good doctors have really poor office staff.

[Anonymous]

It's nothing personal to you, it's a policy the office is undertaking for a variety of reasons. As others have mentioned, a medical office is a small business and they need to pay the bills to keep the office open and keep taking care of patients. With the state of healthcare being what it is, insurances are shifting more costs to the patients. This can be in form of higher deductibles, co-pays, or co-insurance. Insurance companies are putting the onus of collecting whatever contracted reimbursement rates on the medical office.

In an ideal world, insurances will process claims and send an EOB in a timely manner and people would pay their bills in full and on time. Unfortunately, what happens is that it can take weeks (sometimes months) for the insurance to process and by the time a bill gets sent out to the patient, its 4-6 weeks later. Patients hopefully will pay on time but can take weeks to months to pay. In a minority (but not insignificant) number of cases, people just won't pay. Also what can happen is that insurances deny claims based on whatever reason they want to come up with and the the office has to appeal, or patients dispute a claim which can delay bills/payments even more.

All in all - the credit card on file policy is there to streamline collection efforts, just like any other business. People don't give any second thoughts to having their card on file for things like Amazon Prime, Netflix, gym memberships, utilities, cell phone bills, etc etc. But have issues when it comes to their health? It's not a new concept, but it's being utilized in a market where it is hard to break traditional norms and thinking.

Your physician just wants to take care of you and keep you healthy. They do not want to be a bank or lender holding debts which is what the insurance companies are making them do. Unfortunately, with the way the US healthcare system is, patients are becoming "consumers" and are acting and being treated as such. As with any other business, if you do not like the policy you can vote with your feet. This does not make the physician any worse of a healthcare provider. They are just adapting to healthcare economics.

[Anonymous]

Amazon Prime has never tried to give me "services" without being able to tell me anything about how much they will cost.

[Anonymous]

The following notice was sent out in late Dec; the small-ish group practice (in D.C.) is not private and also participates w our family's insurance. I was shocked and super upset by the expectation, and sincerely did not have a spare $100, and since the fee was not optional was deleted from the practice. Thus, now I don't have a provider and will have to pay a la carte to get my records copied or digitally forwarded.

Thank you for being a part of the __________ family!

As we look forward to 2018 and our continued efforts to provide the highest level of personalized care, we will be implementing an annual Administrative Fee of $100 for all patients of the practice. This fee will include the enhanced services detailed below and is effective as of January 1, 2018.

For your convenience, you may submit a credit card payment here:

PAY HERE

Administrative Services are those services that ______________ performs that are not paid by insurance companies. Typically, these services require considerable time in addition to your routine office visit. For example:

24/7 access to physicians at Bloom OB/GYN
Access to HIPAA compliant patient portal for test results and messaging
Access to on-site blood draws and ultrasound
Calls to insurance companies and HR departments regarding insurance eligibility and billing questions
Resubmitting and appealing denied claims to insurance companies
Coordination of care with specialists/ER doctors, pharmacies, laboratories or radiology departments
Completing medication refill requests without an office visit
Letters to referring providers and for patients
Completing forms for work: disability, immunizations, etc.
Miscellaneous extra time spent on a case by case basis
Excludes FMLA forms and prior authorization

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's nothing personal to you, it's a policy the office is undertaking for a variety of reasons. As others have mentioned, a medical office is a small business and they need to pay the bills to keep the office open and keep taking care of patients. With the state of healthcare being what it is, insurances are shifting more costs to the patients. This can be in form of higher deductibles, co-pays, or co-insurance. Insurance companies are putting the onus of collecting whatever contracted reimbursement rates on the medical office.

In an ideal world, insurances will process claims and send an EOB in a timely manner and people would pay their bills in full and on time. Unfortunately, what happens is that it can take weeks (sometimes months) for the insurance to process and by the time a bill gets sent out to the patient, its 4-6 weeks later. Patients hopefully will pay on time but can take weeks to months to pay. In a minority (but not insignificant) number of cases, people just won't pay. Also what can happen is that insurances deny claims based on whatever reason they want to come up with and the the office has to appeal, or patients dispute a claim which can delay bills/payments even more.

All in all - the credit card on file policy is there to streamline collection efforts, just like any other business. People don't give any second thoughts to having their card on file for things like Amazon Prime, Netflix, gym memberships, utilities, cell phone bills, etc etc. But have issues when it comes to their health? It's not a new concept, but it's being utilized in a market where it is hard to break traditional norms and thinking.

Your physician just wants to take care of you and keep you healthy. They do not want to be a bank or lender holding debts which is what the insurance companies are making them do. Unfortunately, with the way the US healthcare system is, patients are becoming "consumers" and are acting and being treated as such. As with any other business, if you do not like the policy you can vote with your feet. This does not make the physician any worse of a healthcare provider. They are just adapting to healthcare economics.

But it’s their business, not mine. Businesses shouldn’t shift risk on to customers. I have no problem paying bills I owe; I do have a problem with getting charged with forced convent.

[Anonymous]

^^^ consent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's nothing personal to you, it's a policy the office is undertaking for a variety of reasons. As others have mentioned, a medical office is a small business and they need to pay the bills to keep the office open and keep taking care of patients. With the state of healthcare being what it is, insurances are shifting more costs to the patients. This can be in form of higher deductibles, co-pays, or co-insurance. Insurance companies are putting the onus of collecting whatever contracted reimbursement rates on the medical office.

In an ideal world, insurances will process claims and send an EOB in a timely manner and people would pay their bills in full and on time. Unfortunately, what happens is that it can take weeks (sometimes months) for the insurance to process and by the time a bill gets sent out to the patient, its 4-6 weeks later. Patients hopefully will pay on time but can take weeks to months to pay. In a minority (but not insignificant) number of cases, people just won't pay. Also what can happen is that insurances deny claims based on whatever reason they want to come up with and the the office has to appeal, or patients dispute a claim which can delay bills/payments even more.

All in all - the credit card on file policy is there to streamline collection efforts, just like any other business. People don't give any second thoughts to having their card on file for things like Amazon Prime, Netflix, gym memberships, utilities, cell phone bills, etc etc. But have issues when it comes to their health? It's not a new concept, but it's being utilized in a market where it is hard to break traditional norms and thinking.

Your physician just wants to take care of you and keep you healthy. They do not want to be a bank or lender holding debts which is what the insurance companies are making them do. Unfortunately, with the way the US healthcare system is, patients are becoming "consumers" and are acting and being treated as such. As with any other business, if you do not like the policy you can vote with your feet. This does not make the physician any worse of a healthcare provider. They are just adapting to healthcare economics.

But it’s their business, not mine. Businesses shouldn’t shift risk on to customers. I have no problem paying bills I owe; I do have a problem with getting charged with forced convent.

While I completely agree, look around at our society. Businesses are shifting pretty much all of the risk onto consumers. This is just the latest.