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High Deductible Health Insurance Tracking?


Cluelass

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We are switching to a high deductible health insurance plan starting in Jan 2013. I've looked all over the internet hoping to find that someone has created a good system for keeping track of everything in one place but haven't been able to find anything. I'm wondering if there is anyone using Evernote for this. If not, I think it would be a great idea to develop some guidelines for this subject. I know that many companies are moving towards these plans as healthcare costs continue to rise, so it's definitely something we'll be needing in the future. Thanks for any help you might be able to give me!! :)

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I too am switching to the high deductible plan and may use Evernote to track expenses etc... I would first develop a excel spreadsheet to input each bill as they come in and then scan each bill into Evernote . I'm sure some type of tagging system will have to be in place. I'll have to put some real though into

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Those were my thoughts as well. However, I know that there will be a time lag between my receiving the service and/or bill and the payment. And then I have to keep track of how much has applied to the deductible and which items were paid 100% because they were considered preventative. Our plan has a three-tier payment system: first the deductible, then a copy to a ceiling amount, then 100% covered by insurance - so I have to keep track of several variables and totals. It's very confusing to do this in Excel (I've already tried it) so I was wondering if there were some tips that would make Evernote a good resource for this.

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I'm an EN user for only about a year or so and don't use it at any level remotely "close" to its potential. More importantly, though (and perhaps more relevant to this topic), I've been a health insurance broker for nearly 40 years. Most MD offices have systems that will "know" if - or which - of the office visit charges are considered "preventive" vs. diagnostic, etc. (the covered charges mandated by PPACA [Obamacare] are very specific) and will let you know this when you're "checking out" of the MD's office. ALL medical charges that are not preventive will fall under the plan deductible, so those should be relatively easy to keep track of. Remember, too, that you'll receive an "EOB" (Explanation of Benefits) from your health insurance company after every medical charge you have and it will show how much was covered, how much went against your plan deductible, and how much of your plan deductible you "satisfied" year-to-date. Finally, if you've also established a tax-sheltered HSA (health savings account) and put money into (a process that is separate and distinct from your insurance plan and premium) you'll most likely receive a debit card linked to that account which may be used - if you wish - to pay for those charges at the time of service (leaving the MD office, drug store, etc.) - with the funds in your HSA account. If you use the card, you'll receive another statement from the HSA account itself documenting the amount of the payment. This means you already have 2 sources of documentation: (1) the insurance plan's EOB each time a claim is filed, and (2) the HSA account statement (if you used it) showing the amount paid and to whom.

How does EN fit into all this? Virtually any way you wish: copy (via scan/email or photo) of medical receipts, EOBs, HSA account statements, etc. for later, tax-filing purposes, or even input the dollar amounts manually; set up a checklist of your major health spending categories (MD; Rx; Lab & Xray; etc.) and "list" each one individually. I'm sure there are endless ways this could be done if you'd like to do so.

I think EN is a fantastic program and I'm constantly searching for ways to further integrate into my working (insurance) and personal "systems." I'm hoping those who may be "further down" the implementation road will weigh in on this topic (and anything related to insurance agency, sales, & related uses for EN).

Hope this helps a bit, though!

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  • 4 weeks later...

I've been using EN to track my health care deductible expenses for a while now. The way my system works is we have a high deductible and then a health credit card [FLEXCARD] that covers the deductible so I have a lot of paperwork between the various entities. (Doctor, Insurance and FlexCard company).

My basic system is to :

1) Scan in EOB [Explaination of Benefits] to EN as soon as it comes in. TAG with EOB, UnBilled, UNSubmitted and TODO.

2) Submit paperwork to FlexCard for reimbursement. APPEND EOB Note with Confirmation and REMOVE UNSubmitted and TODO tags from note.

3) When Bill Arrives from Doctor, Pay [update EOB with Payment info - Date, Person, etc] and then remove UNBILLED Tag. Re-Add TODO if can't pay Bill right away.

4) APPEND Picture of Bill to the EOB note.

At that point, it's all done for me. That's all the tracking I need to do for the visit. Works for me and might provide a starting framework for someone else. :)

With this system, I can search for any dollar amount, date of service or person (using the OCR) to find an EOB or Bill and then determine if it was Paid, reimbursed or billed.

Good Luck.

CARLO.

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Cluelass - In your original posting on this topic, you said you wanted to "keep track" of your high deductible health insurance information. However, you didn't elaborate on how much detail you were willing to work with and maintain.

For years, I have tracked / logged all my families medical expenses, EOBs, and bills in order to ensure that:

* I don't pay anything twice.

* I don't pay more than my insurance company says I'm liable for on the EOB statement.

* I don't pay more than my deductible.

* I don't pay more than my co-insurance rate (it differs from "in-network" to "out of network"), once the deductible is reached.

Over the years, I have found that about 5% of the bills I receive are wrong. So, it's worth the trouble to me.

If you want to go to that much detail and trouble, then I would suggest that you use a combination of Excel and Evernote. Evernote would be the place to put copies of the documents that you receive to make them easy to find and reference. Excel would be the place that you put line items to keep track of amounts. Here are the column headers for you to consider for Excel.

Service Identification

* Date of Service

* Service Provider (doctor, hospital, etc.)

* Place of Service

* Service Provided

* Patient (Famiy Member name)

EOB Information

* EOB Ref #

* EOB Note Code (usually something like A,B,C).

* Evernote Lookup number (add this number to the note you add to Evernote to make searching for it easy.)

Biiling / Invoicing Information

* Invoice Date

* Service Provider Invoice #

* Evernote Lookup number (add this number to the note you add to Evernote to make searching for it easy.)

Charge Information

* Service Provider's Full Charge

* Amount Approved by Insurance Company

* Amount Paid by Insurance

* Amount Paid By Me Because of Deductible

* Amount Paid my Me Because of Co-Insurance / Co-Payments

Payment Information

* Paid Date

* Paid Amount

* Payment Method (credit card, check, etc.)

* Payment/Check #

Customize as you see fit.

I hope you find this helpful.

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Thanks for all the suggestions! I had gotten to the point that I knew I'd need a combination of Excel and EN, but the specifics that both CCostan and Analyst444 provided will really help to make sure I capture everything I need to have. Wish me luck!! :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am loving EN and trying to incorporate it any way I can, but at the moment I am very glad to be Canadian and not have to worry about healthcare bills. Goodness, it sounds terribly confusing keeping it all straight. Best of luck figuring out the best way to enter it into EN.

N

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