I know how you feel about the situation and it will cause you more stress. I have always billed my own insurance since Walmart is not allowed to help me or bill insurances in my state (2 door). I don’t blame you about Davis vision as it poorly reimbursed and the customer service is poor.

Your AR will go up, but whoever you trust to check insurance had better learn them very well. My AR has stayed relatively pretty low since I know the insurances around here pretty well.

I’m surprised to see billing and coding people asking to do this service for you. Attn all: vision plans do not pay crap to the doctor. In one more year I’ll be down to Spectera. They pay the doctors like its still 1985.

The best vision plan is one where the patient saves all their money all year and pays cash. I forgot we live in America where no one saves and has to text on their I-pod while on Medicaid.

I noticed your posting about Walmart not billing for you anymore. Can you tell me a little more about the situation? I have many years experience in the world of coding and billing. Matter of fact, I can do the billing for you, as well as, your partners/other Optometrists. I work with hospitals and physician practices. Performed many reimbursement audits, etc. etc.. Let me know if you and your partners or others would be interested? I can send you my BIO and talk to you by phone.

Thanks,

Bill Maurice,RHIT,CCS-P

contact: Bill Maurice,RHIT,CCS-P
309-303-0748

It was a huge perk. That’s why I am lamenting that it’s gone. Time to raise my fees, as the robo-consultants would say. Any insurance that isn’t easy to work with (*cough* Davis *Cough*) or doesn’t pay promptly or as expected will be gone.

The media would call it a Republican recession because that’s what it is (that is from a registered Republican). Can you really expect to fight two wars “off the books” and not expect it to hit home sometime. I do agree with your views on home lending started by Clinton. However, I didn’t see Bush put a stop to it when it kept the economy going. No taxes for a year? Come on, if that was even possible one of the Republican’s would have floated it. I think there is value in each party and by simply going with one on all issues you have given up a lot.

But that is not what I wanted to address. What was of interest to me was the WalMart not billing and fronting money for you anymore. Essentially all that is happening is WalMart is no longer willing to subsidize your practice. They have done so in the past in order to make sure you take all those bad plans that pay so low. That way they can upsell all the people that come in for glasses.
Your description of what you will now have to do is magnified many times over in private practice. You wonder why private OD’s charge so much? It is because we have to spend about $20 (or more) in staff time every time we bill. WalMart knows this and they are cutting off your Welfare. After all, you have a private practice inside WalMart. Time to hire a staff person to look up, confirm and bill benefits. I bet you rethink taking that plan that pays $39 for an exam.
I look at it as a good thing. Now perhaps some of those plans will be forced to increase their payments to something reasonable and patients will have a plan they can use in a setting of their choice.
Let me know if you want some tips on hiring staff. Oh, better make sure you have unemployment, workers comp. and you make those payroll tax deposits each month.

And look at the Dow. It started tanking last fall when it was apparent Obama was the front runner. Obama could have stopped the recession the moment he entered office if he simply would have announced that there would be an entire year of no income tax or capital gains.

Don’t forget that what started this death spiral was statist home loan programs set up by democrats like Frank and Dodd and racketed by Janet Reno.

I would prescribe listening to Rush Limbaugh for 6 weeks and reading every Ann Coulter book. Also read Liberty and Tyranny by Mark Levin.

When the USA returns to Reganomics, we’ll prosper again.