> -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Thinus van > Rensburg > Sent: Wednesday, 26 July 2006 8:25 AM > > Can one therefore charge the private fee, patient immediately claim > from Medicare and effectively only end up paying the gap on the day? > Bit of admin and likely some bank fees but sounds promising T
But...but...that's essentially what happens now at my practice and others which are using Medicare Online Claiming. The patient pays us our full fee, by whatever means (cash, credit card, cheque, gold bar), we submit the patient's claim on the spot via Medicare Online Claiming, and Medicare deposits the Medicare benefit into the patient's bank account. Apparently it has to be done this way because under the original design of Medicare, for non bulk billed fees, the law dictates that the Medicare benefit can be paid only to the patient. What would make more sense now is to allow the patient to pay us the gap, and we then claim the Medicare benefit online from Medicare, which aggregates the day's Medicare benefits and deposits them as a bulk amount into our practice's bank account at the end of the day. This eliminates some banking processes and the fees that the banks charge to perform them. Banks will not like it. Oliver Frank, general practitioner 255 North East Road, Hampstead Gardens South Australia 5086 Ph. 08 8261 1355 Fax 08 8266 5149 Oliver Frank, general practitioner 255 North East Road, Hampstead Gardens South Australia 5086 Ph. 08 8261 1355 Fax 08 8266 5149 _______________________________________________ Gpcg_talk mailing list [email protected] http://ozdocit.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gpcg_talk
