Both new and old immigrants have at one time or another been puzzled by hospital bills when they received bills from hospital visits or medical treatment. They have unanswered questions, like what should be paid to whom, if should the bill be paid right away or can be ignored with belief that their insurance plan will somehow take care of the charges. Conflicting information on these issues can make people feel perplexed and helpless.
On the drizzly afternoon of June 17, a seminar on medical billing and insurance issues was held in the Pearland West Library, organized by the Pearland Chinese Association. Pearland is near the Houston medical center, which is internationally renowned for having world class experts in medical research and treatment. Dr. Dongning Chen, a certified medical director of the Veterans Affairs hospital in the medical center, was the invited speaker for the seminar.
Dr. Chen first reviewed a few of the most common issues on medical charges, such as charges on medicines, tests, and monitoring of patient with serious diseases, which really impressed upon the audience the complexity of medical billing in the American medical system and the serious challenges a patient without any medical training faces in managing their medical bills. People wonder what should they do when they receive a big bill next time around. Should they just pay up whatever charges are on the bill? Or is there anything else they should do?
Dr. Chen explained that an insurance plan typically will covers 80% of the cost, which is negotiated between the hospital and insurance company. The remaining 20% is typically the responsibility of the patient, which is a matter between the hospital and the patient. An insurance company usually will not get involved in disputes between the hospital and the patient on this part of charges. When a patient is not clear about certain charges for the service received, the patient may request the provider (the hospital or clinic) to provide a detailed list of itemized charges. The patient should check each charge and ask questions as to whether each charge is within the proposed treatment plan, whether the medicine used is a necessary part of the treatment or whether there are less expensive substitutes for the medicines actually used. The patient then may negotiate with the billing department of the provider for a reduced charge. Dr. Chen reminded the audience that a patient should talk to the doctor to understand both the short and long term plan for the treatment. This will help to see whether all the actual charges are within the proposed treatment plan and to sort out extra charges not within the proposed treatment plan.
Finally, Dr. Chen explained the difference between the Medicaid and Medicare, especially the differences between Medicare Parts A, B, C and D. He stressed that Medicare is an expansive federal program and it should be well understood by people approaching age 65.
There was very active participation from the audience throughout the seminar. Many audience members shared their own experiences on the topics discussed, and Dr. Chen made valuable recommendations specific to each situation audience members raised. He also briefly explained some common terms related to medical insurance plans such as co-pay, deductible and co-insurance.
This seminar is part of a series seminars aimed to serve the Pearland Chinese community and is organized by the Pearland Chinese Association (https://txpca.org/). The Pearland Chinese Association is a non-profit membership organization. It is organized to enrich the life of the Pearland Chinese community and to help Chinese immigrants to assimilate into the mainstream of American society. The Pearland Chinese Association encourages its members to contribute to the community through various charity work and sincerely hopes anyone interested in contributing to the community to visit their website for more information.