Medical Bill Tracking - Waiting for EOB

[Jim]

I'm struggling to find a good way to track medical bills and their
subsequent EOBs from the health insurance carriers.

The bill is incurred in month one and shows the gross amount due.
Sometime later, usually the following month, the EOB shows up and can
indicate an HMO adjustment, deductible, co-pay, net paid by carrier
and amt not paid.

With an anticipated payment from the insurance carrier, I don't like
showing the full expense one month and a big credit the next. It's
also cumbersome keeping track of the deductible for the year.

Then there's the whole issue of the flex pending account at work.

Thoughts?

Jim

 

[Barry]

Forget about the EOB, and just wait until you are balance billed for
your copay, deductible, etc. out of pocket expenses, which then you
can post for payment and categorize as a medical expense. Does it
really matter what the original charge, insurance allowable,
write-off, etc. amount to?
Barry

 

[Clark W. Griswold, Jr.]

With an anticipated payment from the insurance carrier, I don't like
showing the full expense one month and a big credit the next.

Well, you may not like it, but most medical providers state that you are
responsible for the entire bill. So technically, that means you do incur the
liability until your carrier pays the bill. HMOs are different of course.

 

[Dick Weaver]

Forget about the EOB, and just wait until you are balance billed for
your copay, deductible, etc. out of pocket expenses, which then you
can post for payment and categorize as a medical expense. Does it
really matter what the original charge, insurance allowable,
write-off, etc. amount to?
Barry

In a word, YES. Did the medical provider bill the insurance company?
Did the insurer pay the correct amount? Did the provider record the
payment to your account? Well, if your medical costs are small, then I
suppose NO is an ok answer. But if your bills run into the 10s of
thousands, you'd best keep track (or be rich enough to not care).

For details on a way to track medical expense, insurance reimbursements,
deductibles, ..., search google for my id, posts to this newsgroup,
"medical", size about 55k. If you can's find it, email me and I'll send
it to you.

dick w