If you have women's health concerns, such as breast health or cervical health, you may be seeing a doctor at a women's clinic. One of the aspects of seeing a doctor at a clinic of this kind is the way they handle billing. Bulk-billing at a medical centre is the most common form of billing and something you need to understand before your visit. Here are three things to understand about bulk-billing medical centre invoices, especially with women's health care.

1. No Consultation Fees

One of the first things you need to understand about bulk-billing medical centre fees is that you will have no consultation fees. The basic concept of bulk-billing is that your Medicare is charged in one bulk amount for everything in the service appointment. For example, without bulk-billing, you would have to pay a consultation fee then claim that fee to your insurance. The next appointment would also be paid for and a claim made for that appointment. Instead, the doctor will bulk bill you for all of the fees and appointments so that only one claim is made.

2. Reduced Specialist Fees

One of the leading increases that people have to pay out of pocket, also known as the gap, is reduced by bulk-billing. For example, if your insurance covers 85 percent of your appointment, then you would need to pay the gap amount. This gap amount is the difference left after the 85 percent is covered. With bulk-billing, you do not have to pay that gap fee. This can be a considerable reduced fee when you consider specialist appointments where the gap fee can be in the hundreds of dollars.

Also, consider with that gap fee reduced, or removed, you can move on to the next appointment easily. If a gap fee is in place, you may not be able to get another appointment until the fee is paid. This is vital if you may have breast cancer and need to be seen for the second stage of specialist appointments for treatment plans and cancer surgery.

3. Billed Directly

You should understand that Medicare is billed directly by your doctor. This means there is no third party billing company. The doctor's office accounting department will bill directly, which means that claims are made directly to the insurance provider. This simplifies the process. This can be vital when you are facing women's health care where multiple scans, x-rays, and treatment plans may be discussed. If bulk-billing is not done, then you could be facing a third party billing company for each of these appointments. Instead, bulk-billing sends you through directly to your insurance provider.

These are three of the key things to understand about bulk-billing and women's health care. If you have questions about your billing, contact your local bulk-billing medical centre accounting department. They can help answer questions and clarify anything regarding your specific account.

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