Senior citizens often face a mountain of medical bills. For a senior who is becoming confused or forgetful or perhaps ill, the thought of those bills can be overwhelming. The Medicare maze can be even more frustrating. Yet, it's important to keep the medical accounts organized to avoid overcharges and pay the bills on time. If you're helping an older person with their medical bills, it's necessary to set up a simple system that works.
Instructions
1. Corral all the medical bills in one place, and separate them into categories. All bills from Dr. Smith go in one stack, and all bills from Dr. Jones go into another. Bills from the hospital go in another. Organize them in chronological order. With a highlighter pen, highlight the date of service and the date the bill is due. Then, highlight the charge and the telephone number to call with questions.
2. Match up each Explanation of Benefits (EOBs) with each bill. It will be easy to see what Medicare paid and what is the senior's responsibility. If he has a supplemental policy that picks up where Medicare left off, attach those with the matched date of service.
3. Make folders for each provider or institution. Clearly mark the name on the folder. To make it even easier, color code the documents. Dr. Smith's bills go in the red folder. The green folder holds hospital bills. Put each folder in a separate hanging folder. Purchase a small file cabinet or basket to hold the hanging folders.
4. Advise the older person you're helping to open and file statements as soon as they receive them. Then, at least twice a month he should go through the folders to see what needs to be paid. Tell him to mark bills with a zero balance with a large "paid" sticker.
5. Offer to make calls to billing offices if the senior is unsure about a statement. Medical offices are happy to assist you, but they will appreciate it if you have all the needed information when you call.
6. Make a spreadsheet for the senior's bills. She may feel unsure about using a computer, but you can keep everything together and print out the spreadsheet for her to review.
Tags: bills from, date service, medical bills, older person, unsure about