End Insurer Credit Cards Payments

If you’ve been receiving payments from insurers via plastic or “virtual” credit cards, do whatever you can to put an end to it. Using credit cards to make payment allows insurers to shift the cost of transferring money to the practice. The insurer doesn’t have to pay an electronic funds transfer (EFT) fee, or process and mail a check. Instead, vendors who issue the credit cards charge a transaction fee which can be as high as 5 percent of the total dollar value when the cards are redeemed. These fees are charged to the practice, not the insurer, which lowers the reimbursement you receive considerably. This payment approach has become common enough that the AMA wrote a letter to CMS Administer Marilyn B. Tavenner this past summer, requesting that CMS put a stop to it. Your contracts stipulate the payments you are to receive for services provided and properly reported, as well as how you will receive them. Unless your contract specifically requires you to receive payments from the insurer by credit card, you can insist that the insurer pay you by another, contracted method.