Patient responsibility
Patients are responsible for all charges resulting from treatment provided by East Portland Pediatric Clinic (EPPC). As a service to you, we will bill most insurance carriers directly; however primary responsibility for account balances is yours. Payment is due within (30) days of statement billing unless financial arrangements are made. Should your account be placed in a collection status, you will be responsible for all agency and/or legal fees incurred.
You are responsible for deductibles, co-pays, non-covered services, coinsurance, and items considered “not medically necessary” by your insurance company. You will be asked to pay co-payments and deductible amounts as services are rendered. Please contact your insurance company to determine if we are a
preferred provider on your plan and be aware of your benefits. It is not possible for our staff to know all patient benefits. Payments that exceed your balance and result in an overpayment are reviewed monthly. We will attempt to contact you if this should occur. Accounts with personal credit balances will not be refunded unless all other charges have been processed by insurance. Uncashed refund checks may be reported to State Lands as required by law. As a courtesy, we will bill your primary and secondary insurance carrier for you if we are contracted on your plan. Providing correct insurance billing information in a timely manner is the responsibility of the parent/patient. Patients are required to present current insurance id card(s) at each appointment. If insurance billing information is not provided to us within the insurance company’s timely filing limit, the balance will become patient responsibility.
- TIME OF SERVICE PAYMENTS: All patient portions such as co-payments & deductibles are due at time of service. Pay in person, by phone, portal or EPPC website.
- OREGON MEDICAID: We will check eligibility on the day of each of your visits. If for any reason your eligibility is inactive, you will be responsible for your visit. EPPC is not contracted with all OHP plans. You may be asked to sign a waiver assuming financial responsibility for services not covered under the state Medicaid program. (We are not contracted with WA Medicaid)
- WORKERS’ COMPENSATIONS: EPPC does not provide care for Worker’s Compensation claims. Be certain to notify the front desk at each appointment if your visit is due to an injury covered by Workers’ compensation.
- MOTOR VEHICLE OR OTHER LIABILITY CLAIMS: East Portland Pediatric Clinic, P.C. will not bill insurance carriers for liability claims. While we understand that settlements for these claims may take many months, you may be required to bring your account current before a settlement is completed.
Both parents are equitably responsible for their child(ren)’s healthcare expenses, unless a court mandate stipulates otherwise. Account demographic changes may be made by either parent unless legally specified. Disputes between parents will not be arbitrated by EPPC. If further questions, please request a copy of our Split Family Policy also available on our website.
All charges are due and payable within 30 days of the first billing unless you arrange a budget payment plan with our billing department. Payment arrangements will not be made for elective appointments i.e. well exams and circumcisions. The parent/guardian(s) will bear the cost of collection and/or court costs and reasonable legal fees should this be required. Accounts referred to our outside agency due to lack of payment will be charged a $100 collection fee that is not billable to insurance.
Contact your insurance company as soon as possible after your child is born. Insurance plans including the Oregon Health Plan should assign them an ID#.
Patients without or not using insurance will be provided a Good Faith Estimate (GFE) when an appointment is made 3 or more days in advance. The GFE is only an estimate of items or services reasonably expected to be furnished at the time it was issued. Actual items, services, or charges may differ from the GFE.
It is our clinic’s policy to charge a fee for checks that are returned unpaid by the bank. If checks return frequently, all further payments may be required to be paid in cash.
Please call 24 hours in advance to cancel or reschedule appointments. EPPC charges $50.00 for missed appointments. We may also choose to discharge a patient from care for repetition of missed appointments.
We accept Cash, Checks, Money Orders, Visa, Mastercard, AmEx & Discover. We do not accept traveler’s checks. Credit and Debit payments may also be made on our website: www.eastportlandpeds.com It is your responsibility to ask for receipts as payments are made if you need them for tax purposes.
Limited lab tests are performed in our office. Any additional lab work needed will be sent to outside laboratory services. Please be aware of the preferred labs for your insurance carrier. You will be responsible for any expenses incurred resulting from lab tests.
Once verbal consent to approve vaccination is received, any charges for those vaccines if refused, will be the patient responsibility and are not billable to insurance.
After hours and weekend care are more costly to provide, so there is an additional charge during those hours.
If you have any questions about the above policy, please speak to our billing office.
We reserve the right to update this policy at any time.