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Negotiating Down Your Medical Bill
1/12/2012 6:51:35 PM

Negotiating Down Your Medical Bill Can Pay Off

Dallas Morning News article
by Pamela Yip, December 9, 2011
 
This article suggests ways uninsured or underinsured patients can attempt to negotiate with their physician or hospital to reduce their medical bills. 
 
Negotiating can be difficult without any benchmarks for procedures. We supply uninsured and underinsured patients with the information they need to negotiate high dollar hospital bills. Our database of financial information on every hospital in the US enables us to intelligently discuss the charges with the hospital and give the negotiator (us or the patient) solid cost comparisons for like procedures at a particular hospital and in a geographical area. We also catch billing errors and overcharges. 
 
If you would like assistance reducing your hospital bill, give us a call to discuss your case and we'll see if we can help.  Call 800-906-8085.
 
To read article in full, click on link below:
Welcome 2012
1/12/2012 6:44:31 PM
1st Blog of the New Year: Welcome 2012!!
At Chapman Consulting, we welcome the New Year with high spirits and a positive outlook for 2012 not only for ourselves, but also for our families, our friends, our colleagues, and our clients. Our country appears to be steadily, albeit slowly, climbing out of the “Great Recession” as businesses are beginning to see more profits and a little more optimism seems to be in the air. 
We are proud to have assisted our varied clients reduce the ever escalating medical claims they are faced with. However, it has been extremely rewarding as consultants to work on projects associated with the high cost of healthcare in general. Our business with attorneys has grown considerably in 2011 as well as government agency projects. But one of our most exciting new business opportunities has come from the work we have done on claims for payors outside of the U.S. 
So, as we begin the New Year, we invite you to contact us. Let’s discuss your concerns surrounding the high cost of surgical procedures in the U.S. Perhaps you are curious how we are able to achieve such a high level of success reducing hospital and other complex medical bills for our clients. We welcome your calls and look forward to hearing from you.
All the Best in 2012!
25 Great Sites for Hospital Reviews
10/17/2011 4:10:24 PM

25 Great Sites for Hospital Reviews

The Health Express, 9-21-11
By Editor, Beth Collier

The Health Express blog is found on www.MastersInHealthAdministration.org, a website that is dedicated to students who are pursuing their Masters in Health Administration.

This blog lists 25 websites offering a wide array of information regarding hospitals, physicians, patient services, and healthcare.  Comparisons, national and state rankings, specialty facilities (children’s, cancer, Parkinson’s), and assistance with hospital bills are all included in this compilation.  

Chapman Consulting, www.HospitalBillReview.com, is site number 13 in the blog under “Great Subscription Sites for Hospital Reviews”.  We appreciate Beth Collier at The Health Express including Chapman Consulting in this list of Great Sites.

To read the article in full, click on the link below:

http://mastersinhealthadministration.org/2011/25-great-sites-for-hospital-reviews/
Inflated Medical Bills
10/5/2011 10:29:41 AM

Inflated medical bills mask true cost of care

Los Angeles Times
By David Lazarus
August 16, 2011

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus-20110816,0,2277463.column

The article demonstrates the true state of affairs regarding inflated charges of hospital and medical bills.  It is becoming more difficultly for individuals, insurance companies, TPA’s and attorneys to determine the actual cost of medical services. 

We have developed a methodology to peel back those layers to find the true cost and determine a much more fair and reasonable amount for the payor to pay a facility or provider for medical services.

Our company, Chapman Consulting, deals with these issues every day.  Our database of financial information on every hospital in the US provides us with the tools we need to negotiate medical bills to a fair and reasonable amount that the hospital and payor will both agree to.

Health Benefit Costs Rise
10/4/2011 6:20:27 PM

Health-Benefit Costs Rise Most Since 2005, Surpass $15,000

Bloomberg Businessweek, 9-27-11

By Jeffrey Young

 This article discusses how the high cost of medical care in the US is affecting employers offering Health Insurance to their employees.           

According to the article, “the average cost of a family policy climbed 9 percent in 2011 to $15,073 for employers”.  Another recent study shows that “health insurance is consuming a bigger share of employer costs; preempting pay raises and making companies pass on more medical costs to their workers”.

The article states: “Premiums rose partly because insurers overestimated the new law’s effect and the gain in health-care spending this year.  Thirteen of the 14 largest insurers exceeded profit in the first quarter”.

Also contributing to the rise in premiums are escalating prices for medical products and services, fewer young and healthy people in the insurance pool and new preventive benefits under the health overhaul, said Karen Ignagni, the chief executive officer of the Washington-based America’s Health Insurance Plans.

To read the article in full, click on the link below:

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-09-27/health-benefit-costs-rise-most-since-2005-surpass-15-000.html

Inflated Hospital Liens
8/5/2011 4:09:55 PM

Injured patients discover hospitals seeking a piece of their accident settlements

Liens often are much higher than what hospital would normally be paid for services, lawyers charge.

By Mary Ann Roser; AMERICAN-STATESMAN; March 28, 2011

 The complete story can be found at http://www.statesman.com/news/local/injured-patients-discover-hospitals-seeking-a-piece-of-1353975.html

 The above story in the American Statesman is becoming an all too common of a theme that we are hearing every week from Attorneys across Texas and across the country.  The hospital official in this article admits that the hospital’s list price is a starting point for negotiations.  No one should be paying those over inflated hospital list prices.  Hospitals have become more aggressive at analyzing claims and determining the most profitable way to collect the most reimbursement. We have developed a program that will review and analyze a hospitals claim and their charges.  It gives you the information to negotiate a fair and reasonable price for the medical services that were provided.  If you are have a client or if you personally have a medical lien filed against you, give us a call.

Bill Review Savings
2/28/2011 5:51:02 PM
Bill Review Savings for Workers Compensation Claims
 
 
In our experience double digit savings can be very common and justified.  The more that providers search to increase revenues from payers, the larger the potential for savings from a quality bill review company.
 
For example, in a recent batch of claims we just reviewed we had a hospital claim billed to the payer as an outpatient claim when the patient was in an inpatient bed of the hospital for 4 days.  Another claim was billed as an inpatient and the patient was in the hospital for only 4 hours.  In both cases according to the State fee schedule each provider attempted to maximize their reimbursement.  On another claim after we demonstrated to the provider what the calculated state fee schedule payment was for a claim, she indicated she thought the payment was to low and would have to figure out a new way to bill those types of claims in order to receive more payment. 
 
My point is that the payer needs to understand what their bill review company is doing and know the type of review that is being done.  With that understanding and knowledge the percentage of savings they report should correspond and relate to the quality of work being done by your bill review company.
Healthcare Price Transparency
2/17/2011 6:01:57 PM

Medical fees law falls short of promise

Consumers haven't gotten access to procedure costs
By Guy Boulton of the Journal Sentinel
 
I read the above article in the Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel, February 5, 2011. The following is my thoughts and comments:
Other states have attempted to bring transparency to Medical Cost. For example, you can access every price list for every hospital in California. The information is of very little help to the consumer. As it stated in the article nearly no one pays that price and there is not a standard billing structure for a hospital. Physician charges are normally based on the CPT coding for the service and it is easier to compare. The most important information is not the list price but the contracted rate that your insurer has with the provider, or if you are uninsured negotiating with the hospital up front and getting them to agree to a set price. We have had many patients call us and get a quote from the hospital to find out later that they are being billed twice the amount they were originally quoted. You need to get the pre-negotiated price quotes in writing. It is going to be very difficult to bring price transparency to healthcare.
Our 6 Years of Reviewing Medical Bills
4/8/2010 8:09:17 AM
For the last 6 years we have been helping patients with medical bills that are uninsured or underinsured. We have provided them with information to be able to understand and review their bills for errors. This has given them the confidence and the ability to do their own negotiations. Many of our other clients have contracted with us to use our in house expert to do the negotiations. 
 
 
In this blog I am going to discuss what we have encountered over the last 6 years. Discussing what has worked and what has not worked. If anyone has any questions that they would like me to address or answer please post them here.
9 items total


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