Appealing to your insurance company can certainly seem intimidating. But it doesn’t have to be if you stay organized! One of the most important elements of your appeal packet is a clear, concise letter detailing your counter-argument that addresses the original reason for denial and citing the terms of your policy. The letter can be addressed from you or an advocate or medical provider written on your behalf. Show
Elements of the letter:
Be sure to include your detailed case as to why the plan should cover the claim:
Sending Your Submission:
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Building Your Defense To build a formidable defense against abusive out-of-network provider claims and billing practices, a plan sponsor could amend its group health plan in the following ways:
By including these and other preventative measures in the group health plan documents—such as the plan, summary plan description and employee communication materials—the plan administrator can go a long way towards inoculating the plan and the plan sponsor from the substantial cost and time commitment involved with having to defend against inflated claims made by unscrupulous out-of-network providers. Brian Giovannini and Cathy Currie are attorneys in the Houston office of Haynes and Boone. Giovannini serves as advisor and benefits counsel to a diverse group of clients, from local governments to Fortune Global 500 corporations. Currie advises clients on employee benefits and executive compensation legal matters, and was previously in-house counsel for a large international engineering services company.
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