New online tool keeps track of medical bills
May 7, 2009 By Jason RobersonA new online tool may make it easier to keep track of medical bills and streamline the process of resolving questionable physician charges.
Intuit Inc., the Mountain View, Calif., company responsible for TurboTax and Quicken money management software, now offers its Quicken Health Expense Tracker for the insured.
Let's say you recently had a baby. Rather than inundating you with statements and bills from the doctor, hospital and lab, your insurer would electronically send all paperwork to your expense tracker account.
You then could see what you were charged for, how much your insurer paid and how much you owe.
The program will explain the codes and terms on your claims, and if you think there's an error, there's a tab from the home page for resolving questionable claims.
Most patients are overpaying for medical care, as eight out of 10 medical bills contain errors, according to the Medical Billing Advocates of America.
As a result, insurers have been seeking ways to make bills clearer.
Quicken's Health Expense Tracker is free to Cigna's health plan members. There are plans to offer it to other insurers soon.
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