Billing and Payment

Filing Insurance Claims
Precertification
Your Financial Responsibility
Hospital Notice of Medicaid Non-Coverage for Routine Circumcisions
Coverage for Newborns
Manage Your Hospital Account Online
Commonly Asked Questions
Notice of Availability of Financial Assistance

Filing Insurance Claims
The Patient Accounting department at Woman’s Hospital is pleased to file insurance claims for services we provide to our patients. If at any time you wish to discuss your bill, please contact our customer service area at 225-924-8106.

To ensure accurate filing of your insurance claim, please do the following:

• Prior to your arrival, review your insurance carrier’s requirements for pre-certification/pre-authorization. Failure to follow your carrier’s stated protocol could result in reduced benefit payments.
• Present your insurance card at the time of registration.

While you are at the hospital, you will probably receive services from doctors who will be interpreting tests ordered by your doctor, or providing other specialized services to you. You may or may not receive a visit from these doctors. These doctors will bill you for the services they provide separately from your doctor and the hospital. Services provided by other professionals not employed by Woman’s Hospital – including but not limited to: anesthesia, emergency medicine, pathology, radiology, neonatology, or perinatology – will be billed separately. These providers may or may not be participants in your insurance plan. Please contact your member service representative with your insurance carrier for coverage determination. Specific inquiries regarding professional billing for these services may be directed to:

Many changes have occurred during the past few years in the health care and insurance industries. In the past, patients only needed to know their deductible and that they would only owe 20 percent of any medical bills. Those days are rapidly disappearing. With the influx of health maintenance organizations (HMOs), preferred provider organizations (PPOs), and other managed care products, new terms such as medical necessity, precertification, gate keepers, etc., have appeared. Often patients are restricted as to what physicians they can see and what health care facilities they can use.

What does this mean to you? It means that employers, physicians, and hospitals are asking you to become more involved in the health care process. To prevent reduced benefits or denial on health care claims, you must educate yourself and the members of your family on the “rules” that your insurance plan may have. We have listed a few common procedures that your insurance plan may require before you use any services. However, insurance carriers and employers may have different requirements. Always call your plan administrator or insurance representative to find out what requirements you must follow:

Precertification
Precertification is the authorization of medical service by your insurance carrier. Typically, your physician will precertify your procedure or visit. However, in most cases, you are ultimately responsible. If precertification is not performed, your insurance company may reduce your level of benefits or simply deny benefits altogether.

Therefore, always check to see if precertification is required for the hospital service you are to have performed and, if it is, verify that your physician has taken care of this step.

Your Financial Responsibility
Based on your insurance benefits, you are expected to pay any co-payment or deductible at the time of service. Payment may be made by cash, check, or credit card. If you are not able to pay this portion at the time of service, you will be expected to contact our financial counselor to make acceptable financial arrangements.

Hospital Notice of Medicaid Non-Coverage for Routine Circumcision
As of April 21, 2005, the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals Medicaid program no longer pays for circumcisions in the hospital unless required for a medical condition. Please talk to your physician for advice about circumcisions. Some physicians do this procedure in their office.

If you have a boy and plan to have your baby circumcised at Woman’s Hospital, you have to pay for the procedure. The hospital charge for the procedure is $200. If you pay before being admitted to the hospital, you can receive a 20% discount. With the discount, the amount due will be $160. If you wait to have the procedure done as an outpatient in our clinic, the charge is $625 or $500 if you pay when you register and receive the 20% discount. These fees are for hospital services only. Your doctor will also charge a fee for doing the procedure.

Please be prepared to pay when you register. Woman’s Hospital accepts cash, checks, and all major credit cards.

If you have questions about coverage by Medicaid, please call the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals.

Coverage for Newborns
It is very important to contact the employer of the insured person to complete the appropriate enrollment forms immediately after birth. In order to have coverage for the care of your newborn, you must add your newborn to your health plan. Most health plans allow you a limited time to add a newborn; until your newborn is added, your claim for hospital services cannot be processed for payment. Once the newborn has been added, please notify Woman's Hospital and provide needed information so that a claim can be filed.

Manage your Woman’s Hospital Account Online
Woman’s Hospital now offers the convenience of online management of your patient account. Simply use your patient account number and birth date to log into our secure service. You can make payments using your credit card, update address and insurance information, view your account activity, and submit bill-related questions. Proper viewing requires Explorer 6.0 or higher. The link Manage Account Online also appears at the top of every page on our website.

Commonly Asked Questions

I have questions about my bill. Whom can I call?
Please call the Patient Accounting customer service division at 225-924-8106, Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM CST, to discuss your bill.

How can I get an itemized bill?
Please call our Patient Accounting Department at 225-924-8106 to request an itemized bill or click here to manage your account online.

I went to the hospital for my delivery and now I'm getting bills from physicians I've never seen. Why?
Almost all hospital procedures require laboratory testing or x-rays. Most of these procedures have two components that will be billed to you. The hospital charge is for the technical portion of the procedure, such as charges for x-rays, storage, record keeping, etc.

The second component is from the physician for professional reading of the x-ray or lab specimen. Radiologists are specially trained in interpreting x-rays, and pathologists are specially trained in reading laboratory specimens. These are the physicians who determine the results of your x-ray or laboratory specimen and transmit the information to your personal physician. This type of billing may be confusing; however, federal regulations require that technical and professional charges be billed separately.

If you receive a bill from a physician and do not understand the charges, contact that physician's billing department using the list below:

I believe there is an error on my bill. Whom should I contact?
Contact our Patient Accounting Department at 225-924-8106. If they are unable to answer your questions, they will request assistance from our Quality Review Department. Your medical record will then be reviewed and compared to the items listed on your bill. You will receive a return phone call with the outcome of the review. If an error is found, a corrected claim will be filed with your insurance company.

Did the hospital file a claim with my insurance company?
All claims for hospital services are filed with your insurance company. Your statement indicates whether your claim has been filed. If you are not sure, contact our Patient Accounting Department at 225-924-8106.

The explanation of benefits from my insurance company indicates that some of my charges were denied. It also indicates some items were non-covered charges. Whom do I contact to find out what specific items were denied?
Different insurance plans cover different items. To find out what items were denied, contact your insurance carrier.

Can I pay my bill online?
Yes. Simply use your patient account number and birth date to log into our secure service to manage your account online.

What if I cannot pay my bill?
You will need to contact our financial counselor to discuss options available. She can be reached at 225-924-8354.

Notice of Availability of Financial Assistance
As part of our mission, Woman’s Hospital is committed to providing access to quality health care for the community, and to treating all of our patients with dignity, compassion, and respect.

It is our policy to provide services without charge, or at discounted prices, to eligible patients who cannot afford to pay for part of all of their care. In addition, we offer our patients a variety of payment plans and options to meet their financial needs.

The following financial assistance policies and programs are designed to balance a patient’s need for financial assistance with the medical center’s responsibility to maintain its financial viability so that we may continue to serve the community.

Financial Assistance
This is a Woman's Hospital program that is available to some patients who have difficulty in paying their hospital bill and whose application for Medicaid has been denied. Our Financial Counselor can assist you in determining if you qualify for this program. She can be reached by telephone at 225-924-8354.

Medicaid
Medicaid is a state program to help pay medical bills for people who qualify for services. Woman's Hospital's Financial Counselor is available to help you with the application process. Her office is on the first floor of the hospital, at entrance 3 in the Social Services Department. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM. She can also be reached by telephone at 225-924-8354.

Women, Infants, & Children (WIC)
The WIC program is a federal program run by the Louisiana Office of Public Health. It is available to qualifying families, and a representative is located at Woman's Hospital to help with enrollment. The WIC office is on the first floor of the hospital, at entrance 3 in the Social Services Department. Because the income guidelines for participation are higher than might be expected, even families who may not qualify for other programs may be eligible for WIC. For an appointment, contact the WIC representative at 225-231-5254.

Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
The SSI program is a federal income supplement program designed to help the aged, blind, and disabled people who have little or no income. It provides cash to meet basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter. If you qualify for SSI, you usually qualify for food stamps and Medicaid as well. The application process for this program through the Social Security Administration can be started by calling 1-800-772-1213.

Cash Discounts
Upon request, uninsured patients may receive a discount on charges. If you are planning to have inpatient or outpatient services, please contact our financial counselor at 225-924-8409 for details.

Cash Packages
Patients are eligible for cash package pricing for non-complicated delivery services. These cash packages cover the Woman’s Hospital services. Cash packages must be paid in advance of receiving services, and claim forms will not be provided. Call our financial counselor at 225-924-8354 for more information.