Providers Rate HumanaAccess Card “Excellent” In a recent Humana survey, 77 percent of network providers who are familiar with the HumanaAccessssm Visa® card rated its benefits “excellent.”
In fact, the card was rated favorably by survey participants on all attributes, including the ease of implementing the following actions: - Processing payments
- Identifying the member’s insurer
- Informing the provider about patient
copayments
- Providing eligibility information
The HumanaAccess card is now available in all Humana major markets and “the card will truly be coast-to-coast by the end of this year,” said Benjamin Slen, product manager for the HumanaAccess program.
Humana continues to add small and medium-sized groups around the country to the HumanaAccess card membership program through its SmartExpress product. For more information about SmartExpress, visit www.humana.com. From the column on the right side of the homepage, select the link for SmartExpress under, “Learn about products for businesses.”
Process payments conveniently
Currently, providers can accept the HumanaAccess card as member identification, and as a source of payment for copayments and other out-of-pocket expenses. The HumanaAccess card is directly linked to the Personal Care Account (PCA) and Flexible Spending Account (FSA) funds that members have accrued.
Conveniently receiving payments from patients is just one benefit for health care providers who serve members using the HumanaAccess card. The HumanaAccess card also decreases the need for providers to bill patients on a monthly basis.
“We want providers to be familiar with the new HumanaAccess card so that they can process payments quickly using the card,” Slen said.
Any out-of-pocket member expense can be charged by swiping the HumanaAccess card through a Visa card machine. The cost to health care practices is the same as the cost to swipe any other signature debit card. Providers receive payments along with regular Visa payments.
In December 2004, Humana distributed a laminated reference guide to network providers across the country that provides specific details on how to use and process payments using the HumanaAccess card.
Plan benefits vary
Although two sources of funds are now available on one card, several characteristics differentiate Humana’s FSA and PCA plans.
Humana’s traditional FSA plan enables members to use the card at the point of sale to cover copayments and other out-of-pocket expenses. The HumanaAccess card can also be used to cover dental, vision and prescription expenses when these benefits are included in the employer’s FSA plan.
Members with PCA plans do not have copayments for medical services like office visits. In these cases, practices should submit claims to Humana, and then Humana will adjudicate the claims and inform the practices of the amounts that members are responsible for paying. In turn, practices should bill the members accordingly. Humana recommends that providers take the following steps to process claims correctly using the member’s PCA: - The member pays nothing at the time of
service.
- The provider may collect the member’s HumanaAccess card number and
authorization when the member seeks care in order to be able to
charge the member’s card after the claim is processed by Humana.
- The provider then submits the claim to
Humana.
- Humana adjudicates the claim and tells
the provider how much member responsibility there is, if any.
- The provider then charges the member’s
card directly for any balance due if the member has left a signed
authorization and the card number on file.
- Otherwise, the provider bills the member for the balance due, and the member can then enter the HumanaAccess card number and expiration date, and submit the bill back to the provider.
Patients Can Authorize Card Charges
As a value-added benefit to Humana members and network providers, Visa® developed a Patient Easy Pay Consent Form to give Humana members the ability to authorize network providers to charge their HumanaAccess cards to process payments. The form allows providers to charge the member’s card when there is a payment due. It eliminates the delay time associated with mailing the bill and waiting for a response. Instead, the member provides pre-authorization to charge the card for a specific amount or service.
Interested members can leave a copy of the Patient Easy Pay Consent Form and their HumanaAccess card on file in physicians’ offices to authorize providers to charge their cards to process payments. The form is valid for one year unless members cancel the authorization through written notice to their health care providers. | |
