Patient Financial Advocate

UnitedHealth Group - Owensboro, KY

Full-time - Entry Level

Onsite - Owensboro, KY

101-250 employees

Insurance Carriers and Related Activities

About the position

As a Patient Financial Advocate at Owensboro Health, you will play a crucial role in supporting patients and their families by providing financial advocacy counseling. This position is designed to ensure that individuals who are eligible for insurance coverage, premium assistance, and financial assistance are well-informed about their options. You will deliver education regarding affordability programs, qualified health plans, essential health benefits, and patients' rights when using insurance. Additionally, you will explain Owensboro Health's financial assistance programs and financial policies to patients and guarantors, assisting them in obtaining coverage, applying for financial assistance, and making payments or payment arrangements. Your responsibilities will include helping patients open or access accounts with KYNect and guiding them through the process of obtaining help with premium and cost-sharing discounts through the Marketplace. You will also utilize web-based decision tools to assist patients in narrowing down their choices for qualified health plans. A significant part of your role will involve reviewing daily census or clinic schedules to identify uninsured accounts that require screening or accounts with outstanding balances that need intervention. You will make efforts to contact uninsured patients, screen them for appropriate coverage or financial assistance, and set up payment arrangements as necessary. In addition, you will review uncollectible accounts, such as those involving deceased patients or bankruptcies, and prepare them for the next level of collection processes. Maintaining eligibility as a Certified Application Counselor (CAC) and complying with any state-prescribed licensing or certification standards is essential. This position offers a full-time schedule of 40 hours per week, with shifts from Monday to Friday during normal business hours of 8:00 am to 6:30 pm CST, and may require occasional overtime. You will receive four weeks of paid on-the-job training, which will be aligned with your schedule and conducted on-site.

Responsibilities

• Provides financial advocacy counseling to patients/families to help assure that individuals who are eligible for insurance coverage, premium assistance, and/or financial assistance know about their coverage and payment options.
• Delivers education in regard to explaining affordability programs, qualified health plans, essential health benefits, and rights when using insurance, as well as Owensboro Health financial assistance programs and financial policies.
• Educates patients/guarantors on Owensboro Health financial policies and financial assistance processes and assists them with obtaining coverage, applying for financial assistance, and/or making payments or payment arrangements.
• Assists patients/guarantors with opening or accessing an account with KYNect and obtaining help with premium and cost-sharing discounts through the Marketplace.
• Understands the web-based decision tools and guides patients through the process of narrowing choices for qualified health plans.
• Reviews daily census or clinic schedule and identifies any uninsured accounts that require screening or accounts with outstanding balances requiring intervention to discuss payment options.
• Makes all efforts to contact uninsured patients in work queues and screens them for appropriate coverage or financial assistance and/or sets up payment arrangements.
• Reviews uncollectible accounts such as deceased patient, bankruptcy, and return mail to send to agencies or attorney for next level of collection process.
• Retrieves all necessary documentation of bad debt/charity adjustments as needed for Medicare Cost Report.
• Must maintain eligibility as a Certified Application Counselor (CAC) and comply with any licensing, certification, or other standards prescribed by the state, if applicable.

Requirements

• High School Diploma / GED or higher
• 1+ years of Patient Financial Advocate related work experience, including data entry and medical billing
• 1+ years of experience explaining patient liability amounts (deductible, co-pay, co-insurance)
• Ability to work any of our 8-hour shift schedules during our normal business hours of 8:00am - 6:30pm CST. It may be necessary, given the business need, to work occasional overtime
• 18 years of age or older

Nice-to-haves

• Prior EPIC (EMR) experience
• Working knowledge of KY Medicaid
• Ability to read an Explanation of Benefits and explain out-of-pocket costs

Benefits

• 4 weeks of paid on-the-job training
• Opportunities for career development and advancement
• Supportive work environment that values employee contributions