By:  Adonta Lee, Behavioral Healthcare Associates, LLC
Front Office Administrative Coordinator

As we anticipate each new year, many of us are required to provide updated information to most of our healthcare providers. This is especially important regarding health insurance information updates. Updating this information is important not only for your healthcare provider, but also for you!

As January 1, the first day of each year, rolls around some of us have already been preparing for changes in insurance coverage. Healthcare insurance open enrollment periods prompt us to consider keeping our current insurance(s) or changing to a different insurance plan.  These changes could be for various reasons, some by our own preferences and some because of changes made by others that ultimately influence us.  Becoming “of age” can mean more than the obvious privileges of being an adult!  Becoming “of age” can also mean that a young adult may age out of insurance coverage from parental insurance plan(s) and may have no coverage, or that they will be changing to their own healthcare insurance.  Or becoming “of age” may mean that a person has reached that golden age of 65 and the milestone of when enrolling in Medicare, Medicare combination plans, or Medicare Advantage and/or supplemental plans become an option. Healthcare insurance coverage may occur perhaps because a person has changed jobs and benefits are different or their employer has changed contracts with insurance companies.

Whatever the reason for changing healthcare insurances may be, you might wonder when would it be best to update your healthcare provider of the changes. The answer is Immediately!  As soon as you have your ID number, whether or not you have the physical insurance card, it is always beneficial to let your providers know right away that you have a new insurance plan. You may ask why this is so important for providers to have accurate and updated information. The answers include:  avoiding delays in insurance claim processing that could become your financial responsibility if insurance is not paying providers for services rendered; discovering the possibility of non-covered services with insurance verifications; determining whether a provider is participating in-network with the insurance company; preparing for your responsibility of fees for services such as copay, deductible, coinsurance costs to be collected at the time of service; and most importantly, to be able to primarily focus on your treatment instead of your account management.

We recommend that you do not delay on updating your healthcare insurance information, not only at the beginning of each new year, but whenever anything changes with your insurance plan. We recommend if you have new healthcare insurance coverage that you verify your own insurance benefits and coverage details for your medical and mental health care even if a medical or mental health practice says they will be verifying your coverage as well. Having this information is helpful for you to be best prepared for your treatment and it is helpful for your providers, too, as they create a treatment plan with you!