Paying Medical Bills After A Loss

During a time when you might be feeling overwhelmed with grief after a pregnancy loss, you may need some help navigating your medical bills. There are a few simple steps you can take to make sure a medical bill you receive is accurate. If you follow these simple steps you confidently will know the claims process has occurred and the portion of the bill you receive is accurate.

First: Request an Itemized Bill

A best practice is to have an itemized bill from the provider/facility which indicates what the insurance company has paid towards the expenses. Don’t be afraid to request an itemized bill from providers/facilities, such as a hospital, that could include dozens of expenses. The itemized statement will list every service provided and the amount billed for each service. This breakdown will help to confirm you actually received all of the services indicated on the statement. If you have to satisfy a deductible you haven’t met for the current year, the portion you need to pay may be going towards satisfying the deductible. Otherwise, if you have met your deductible for the calendar year, your portion may be the co-insurance amount that you are responsible to pay.

Next: Check Your Explanation of Benefits (EOB) and Confirm Invoiced Amount

Confirming the provider invoice amount is correct is simple to verify.  Register through your healthcare provider’s online portal.  This will give you access to the Explanation of Benefits (EOB) to confirm the services were processed by the insurance. The EOB has everything you need to do multiple activities:  

1. You can use the EOB to confirm the medical expenses were processed correctly and your portion of the provider invoice matches the “your responsibility” portion of the EOB.  If it does, you are good to pay your portion.   

2. You can download the EOB to submit as documentation to the Health Savings Account (HSA) or Flexible Spending Account (FSA)  administrator to support claims you may have paid for with your debit card and follow up documentation is needed. 

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If you previously paid for healthcare services and now want to be reimbursed from your HSA/FSA account.  The EOB is typically the best option to provide documentation of the expense for reimbursement.  It includes the acceptable four W’s:  “Who”, “What”, “Where”, “When”  and lastly “How” much.  

Don’t Forget: Your BenefitBump Care Team is Here to Help!

You can always reach out to your BenefitBump Care Team to walk through any questions or concerns you have regarding your medical bills. We want to help lessen the burden - as big or as little as it may be - during this difficult time.