Medicaid is confusing — not only for you — but for your patients, too. Leaving your front desk staff members on their own to figure out answers to Medicaid questions can create stress on both sides of the front desk. Patients could lose faith in your practice and walk away, taking necessary Medicaid reimbursement with them.
If you can help ease the minds of patients who are confused about their Medicaid coverage, you’ll not only keep them coming back to your office, but you’ll also save time, since researching the answers to their Medicaid questions over and over again can take up hours every week.
To keep patients happy and satisfied, get the answers to these common Medicaid questions that your front desk is sure to be asked.
Patient Question: If I have Medicaid, why am I being charged for my visit?
Front Desk Team Response: State Medicaid programs sometimes ask patients to contribute to the cost of their care. For instance, your Medicaid plan may ask you to pay a deductible first, before coverage kicks in. This means you have to pay a certain amount before your Medicaid plan will pay. Or you may have to pay a copay (a set rate you pay for every service — for instance, $10 per visit) or coinsurance (a percentage of the cost of your care — for instance, 10% of the visit cost).
Your contribution to paying for your health care is called “cost-sharing,” and these charges may apply for care in a doctor’s office, a hospital, a surgical center, a dentist’s office, and other locations.
Patient Question: Which Medicaid services don’t have out-of-pocket costs associated with them?
Front Desk Team Response: Medicaid does not typically impose out-of-pocket costs for:
- Emergency care
- Family planning
- Preventive services for children
- Services related to pregnancy
In addition, certain people on Medicaid are exempt from paying out-of-pocket costs. These include terminally ill beneficiaries, children, and people who are institutionalized.
The doctor will still see you if you can’t pay for your Medicaid services, but you will still be expected to pay your unpaid charges when you are able to do so.
Patient Question: Who can I talk to about why I have to pay out-of-pocket costs?
Front Desk Team Response: You can contact your state Medicaid provider and ask about your policy specifics. The phone number for your carrier will be listed on your insurance card.
Resource: Use this list to find Medicaid state-specific contact information for patients.
Training Can Help
It could cost your practice thousands if you lose any of your patients due to mistakes that start at your front desk. To ensure that your front desk has all of the tools they need, join the five-part online training series Front Desk Essentials. Each of the training sessions will provide step-by-step tips that can help your front desk master the strategies that keep your practice running!
 |
Subscribe to Healthcare Practice Advisor |
| Get actionable advice to help improve your practice’s reimbursement, compliance, and success in this weekly eNewsletter. |
|
|
|