Track your revenue: Make sure you know if your payers are charging EFT fees

Check your payer contracts and correspondence for signs that insurance companies are charging you to receive your medical reimbursement payments via electronic funds transfer (EFT).

 

As Part B News reports, CMS has been dragging its feet on issuing regulations for these practices, so practices must take steps to address and minimize these charges themselves.

 

How prevalent is the problem? According to a recent Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) survey, 17% of respondents say they must pay a fee to health plans to receive their reimbursement payments, while more than 32% said they weren’t sure if there was a fee or not.

 

The transaction fees range from 2 to 5% of the total medical services payment, MGMA found.

 

About 60% of providers who said they are being charged a fee for EFT payments also said the health plans use a third-party payment vendor, the association stated.

 

View Part B News coverage for tips to address the problem with your own payers.