Steiner Health Financial Policy
We are doing everything possible to hold down the cost of medical care. You can help a great deal by reducing the number of bills we send to you. The following is a summary of our payment policy.
ALL PAYMENT IS EXPECTED AT THE TIME OF SERVICE
Payment is required at the time services are rendered unless other arrangements have been made in advance. This includes applicable coinsurance and copayments for participating insurance companies. CSAM accepts cash, personal checks, VISA, Discover, and MasterCard. There is a service charge of $30 for returned checks. All invoices unpaid after 30 days will incur a $10 per month service charge. The charge for phone or email consultations (established. patients only) is $18.25 per 5 minutes. Patients with an outstanding balance [exclusive of pending insurance claims, but including your co-pay and deductible] 60 days or more overdue must make agreed-upon, written arrangements for payment prior to scheduling another appointment. After 90 days we reserve the right to use a collection agency with any additional charges being your responsibility.
INSURANCE
We collect Medicare charges at the time of the visit, submit them to Medicare, and you receive the amount for which Medicare is responsible, by check in the mail. Sometimes your deductible or copay may be subtracted from the reimbursed amount.
If you have outpatient visit insurance coverage you may ask for a coded receipt which you can send to your insurance company for consideration of reimbursement. Your time of service receipt includes all information necessary for submitting claims to your insurance company. If you need assistance or have questions, please leave a message for our billing staff with your exact question and we will call you back to sort it out.
MANAGED CARE:
We do not participate in any managed care programs such as HMO’s, and therefore require full payment at the time of service.
PATIENT ORGANIZATION
If you are a member of the patient organization, your contract must be paid up at the time of service or you are responsible for the full charge for the visit.
MEDICINES AND ITEMS FROM OUR STORE
These items must be paid in full at the time of dispensing. If we ship items to you, we will require pre-payment with a credit card. It is important for you to verify the shipping address before we send it out so that the shipment does not get lost.
MISSED APPOINTMENTS/LATE CANCELLATIONS:
Broken appointments represent a cost to us, to you and to other patients who could have been seen in the time set aside for you. Cancellations are required at least one business day prior to the appointment. New Patient appointment cancellations require two business days prior to the appointment. Our charge for missed or late-canceled appointments is $40 for follow-up appointments and $275 for new patient appointments. Repeated misuse of scheduled appointments may result in discharge from the practice. Please try to let us know what medicine refills you need when you are here for an appointment. If you need refills from a pharmacy at other times please give us three business days’ notice. There is a $20 service fee for prescriptions, referrals or letters written outside of a regular visit time.