Billing
Bellefonte Emergency
Medical Services charges for services provided as do
most other EMS providers. Our annual budget revenue
is funded 94% by fee-for-service reimbursement. We
do not receive tax-based funding from any of the
local municipalities that we serve. Bellefonte EMS
employs our own trained personnel to conduct
in-house billing activities instead of contracting
this function to an outside company in a distant
town. Not only does this keep people employed
locally it also gives us a consistent level of
customer service and attention to you the patient
when questions or concerns arise about your bill.
Ambulance
In most instances,
emergency ambulance responses are eligible for
reimbursement through the patient’s health insurance
policy or automobile insurance for motor vehicle
collisions. Using information obtained during the
ambulance incident, Bellefonte EMS will submit an
invoice to your insurance carrier as a courtesy for
you soon after the date of service. At times
accurate information may not be available during
your time of emergency. An information request form
will be mailed to you to complete and return to our
Billing Office so that we may continue to help you
by submitting the invoice to the correct insurance
carrier for you. Many insurance carriers will send
the reimbursement payment directly to us and in many
cases provide you with a statement of payment. Some
insurance carriers will mail the payment check
directly to you, the insured patient instead of
Bellefonte EMS. Once you have received the
insurance check you are responsible for forwarding
that monies to Bellefonte EMS.
The rate of denial of
payment by some insurance carriers, especially
Medicare related, has significantly increased in
2013 resulting in the patient being personally
responsible for the invoice. In most cases the
stated reason for denial is ‘not medically
necessary’ or ‘not a covered service’. While we
agree that in some very rare cases, an emergency
ambulance was not needed however in most instances
this has not been the case. The exact reasons for
the sudden increase in denial of payment by
insurance companies are not known however following
recent events in the news media related to the
overhaul of the national healthcare system may
provide some insight.
Para-Transit Van
Most insurance
carriers, including Medicare, do not provide
coverage for non-emergency para-transit wheelchair
van transports. These services are the financial
responsibility of the patient and are considered an
out-of-pocket expense.
General
Please carefully read
information provided by your health insurance
carrier concerning specific coverage, annual
deductable and co-pay requirements particular to
your insurance plan for additional details as each
plan is different.
Bellefonte EMS is
willing to work with all of our patients with the
billing and payment process however it is important
for you to contact us in a timely manner.
Delinquent accounts are referred for collections
when our invoices and requests for information have
been ignored.
Refer to our Frequently
Asked Questions page for additional information.
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