Reader Question:
Collect from Patient After Secondary Insurance
Published on Tue Oct 09, 2012
Question: Often, when we perform lab tests, the patient has secondary insurance, some of which have deductibles on the secondary. In these cases, should we write off the amount of the deductible because it's secondary, or do we bill the patient?Ohio SubscriberAnswer: Labs may bill the secondary insurance on behalf of patients, but if the patient has a deductible on the secondary insurance, you can and should bill the patient that amount. Your physician clients should pass on the patient insurance information to you. You will need to verify which insurance is primary, so you can bill that payer first. Once you get the EOB from the primary payer, send your claim to the secondary, with a copy of the primary's EOB attached. In most cases, after you've received both payments, you'll take the adjustments from whichever insurance has the larger adjustment. You should not take adjustments from both plans, [...]