By Marshall Allen
I recently got an interesting email from the clinic manager at a private psychiatry office. She has been reading Never Pay the First Bill and wanted to allow her insured patients to pay cash when the cash price was lower than their insurance company discounts. But she worried her insurance company contracts prevented it.
I cover this in the book. Insurance companies’ “discounted” prices are often higher than the cash prices for various medical treatments and services. Usually I’m hearing from patients who are being told by medical providers that they aren’t allowed to pay cash if they have insurance. In a previous column I showed patients how to cite HIPAA to restrict a billing department from sharing your information with your insurance company. Then the provider can ONLY get paid in cash.
I suggested this solution to the clinic manager and she loved the idea.
You gotta love a clinic manager finding better ways to serve patients!
Helping this clinic manager — and the holiday season — made me so thankful for what we’re building here at Allen Health Academy. I have some highlights here but click the link below for the whole update.
1. My newsletter is growing fast. We’re at more than 4,400 subscribers with an open rate of almost 50 percent. Each edition is informative and inspiring.
Almost 200 of the subscribers are paid. I use those funds to hire patient advocates for people with complex cases, and provide scholarships for my health literacy videos.
Please send me the tough cases so I can hire a professional patient advocate to help them!
2. I am so encouraged by the organizations who have built, or are looking to build, my Never Pay Pathway health literacy videos into their employee benefits.
The videos are getting excellent reviews and are a scalable solution to train employees.
Want more information? Go to www.allenhealthacademy.com or email me at neverpay@marshallallen.com.
3. I’m thankful for NABIP and SHRM members equipping themselves
The Never Pay Pathway health literacy videos are now available for continuing education credit through NABIP, the national association for insurance brokers, and SHRM, the national association for HR professionals.
Insurance brokers/advisors and HR people are a key part of this movement. Follow the link below to get the NABIP and SHRM links to the curriculum.
4. I’m thankful for employers empowering their employees
I’ve done two employee education webinars in the past month. Employees pepper me with questions during the presentations. “I feel this is probably the best presentation on health care that I have ever attended,” one employee wrote on the assessment.
Let’s set up a session to educate the employees at your organization!
Exciting things are happening! Let’s continue to build together to help people get the health care they need at a MUCH better price.
