We understand that you may be concerned about your hospital bills, insurance coverage and how you will handle the expenses of your medical treatment. Our Patient Financial Services Department is here to help you through this process.
If you have questions about insurance coverage, payment plans or Charity Care, please call our office at (509) 725-7101 ext. 124. Our offices are located in the Long Term Care wing just inside the north entrance. We’re more than happy to meet with you.
Federal Regulations
Lincoln Hospital is a non-profit public hospital. Under Federal Law, if you have a medical emergency or are in labor you have the right to receive, within the capabilities of this hospital’s staff and facilities…
An appropriate medical screening/examination.
Necessary stabilizing treatment (including treatment of an unborn child).
Appropriate transfer to another facility, if necessary.
These services are available even if you cannot pay or do not have medical insurance or you are not entitled to Medicare or Medicaid.
Lincoln Hospital does participate in the Medicaid Program.
Insurance
We are happy to assist you by billing your insurance company on your behalf. At the time of your registration or admission, we will ask you to sign an "Assignment of Benefits" which will allow us to receive payment directly from your insurance company. If you do not choose to assign benefits, you will be asked for payment in full or to make other arrangements (see above Payment Policy).
Lincoln Hospital accepts most major insurance plans. To find out if your carrier is on our list of insurances, please call us at (509) 725-7101. Our service representatives are more than happy to assist you.
Credit Card Payment & Bank Financing
You may use your VISA, MasterCard or Discover to pay your accounts.
Charity Care
It is Lincoln Hospital’s philosophy that no one be denied care because of inability to pay for hospital services. If you have limited or no means to pay for services, you may qualify for coverage through programs such as Medicaid. Our Patient Financial Services Department is available upon request to help you explore payment options.
Should you not qualify for state-funded programs, you may seek to have your bill reduced or eliminated by qualifying for Charity Care. If you feel you need this type of assistance, please contact our Patient Financial Services Department as soon as possible to begin the application process.
Professional Account Management
Lincoln Hospital contracts with Professional Account Management (PAM) to manage our Self-Pay balances.
PAM is a non-deliquent self-pay account solution center that operates as an ectension of our Patient Financial Service's billing department. PAM does not report accounts to credit reporting agencies and is not a collection agency. PAM utilizes skilled professional to work with our patients to address their concerns and help them work toward account resolution.
Should you have a self-pay balance (balance after insurance or no insurance), you will receive a monthly statement from PAM and it is important that you make your monthly payment by the due date each month.
Lincoln Hospital District #3 is sensitive to your right to privacy so be assured that the PAM financial staff is held to the highest of professional standards and deals with patient information with the utmost confidentiality.
Finance Charges
If you are not able to pay your balance in full within 90 days after the first billing statemnt we will begin to accrue interest at 5%.
Helpful information for you, our patients
Verification of Benefits
Prior to any visit, you should verify your benefits with our insurance company to make sure the visit (including surgery or medical procedures) is covered.
Preauthorization
Definition of preauthorization – Approval by your insurance company to proceed with surgery or a special procedure.
What does this mean to you?
Most procedures or surgeries require preauthorization from you insurance. You must verify that this is done by the physician who will perform the procedure. Obtaining preauthorization does not guarantee that your insurance company will pay the bill.
Denials
Definition of denial – When your insurance company refuses to reimburse the medical charges by your doctor.
What does this mean to you?
More and more insurance companies are denying charges as a standard practice in order to delay payments. However, we can circumvent this by submitting your bill without mistakes.
You can help us prevent denials by doing the following:
Provide your insurance cards at each visit. We’ve found many insurance companies continually change their billing address.
Keep us updated if you have any address or telephone changes.
Speak with your insurance company and verify coverage, referral and preauthorization prior to visits and procedures.
Contact your insurance company or us if the insurance company wants any further paperwork or asks questions that you don’t understand.
Don’t just pay a bill that your insurance company refuses to cover. Get your policy book out and look it over. We are happy to help you, so feel free to bring it to our office for assistance.
