Payments, General/Daily Information.

We are firm believers that therapists, medical personnel and others in similar fields should not engage in collecting payments from their clients, as this can interfere with the therapeutic relationship – especially when those payments may not be readily forthcoming.

It doesn’t matter whether the client is a MaineCare recipient with a $2.00 co-pay, a private pay client, or someone with health insurance coverage but who has deductibles, co-pays and other possible issues.

Let us take that concern off your shoulders. We can meet with your clients and discuss how their sessions will be paid for, send out monthly statements, and if needed, do any follow up necessary to track down missing payments and make recommendations on next steps. We will also provide a brief outline of the steps that may be taken to collect any funds owed.

Among our insurance company-related services are:
… monitor insurance deductibles, client co-pays and claims
… follow up insurance non-payments and any submitted invoices that have not been paid in a reasonable period of time
… for insurances that you’re not credentialed with, determine whether billing out of network is possible, and if so, if it’s even feasible

Cost of This Service:

Our fee for the General Payments service is $25.00 per hour, billed in quarter hour increments, with weekly invoices emailed to you on Sunday evenings.

Payment Agreements.

Deductibles can be a real problem under some insurance plans. When the first of the calendar year hits (or your client changes policies mid year) and now there’s suddenly that $6,500 deductible that must be met, it can be a real challenge for both you and for your client.

It’s our belief that most people want to pay their bills, and that not paying causes anxiety and stress, which too often is dealt with by avoidance rather than meeting the problem head on. Therefore, we will initially take a comforting, collaborative approach with your clients in working out an equitable Payment Agreement.

We have developed a methodology using a Payment Agreement format that spreads out the cost of those deductible payments over a period of time, while insuring that you will receive your average hourly rate during that Payment Agreement time period.

Cost of This Service:

Our fee for the Payment Agreement service is $25.00 per hour, billed in quarter hour increments, with weekly invoices emailed to you on Sunday evenings.

Duty to Pay Contract.

Heritage Health Services is not a collections agency, but we believe there are times when it’s our responsibility step up the intensity of recovering funds owed to our clients.

Such times might be when one of your clients hasn’t kept to their Payment Agreement to make weekly or monthly payments on their deductibles or other expenses, and the amount owed has hit a threshold (generally $250) that triggers the next level of collections.

If this happens, HHS will meet with the responsible individual and replace their simple Payment Agreement with a more formal Duty to Pay Contract. (If a face-to-face or Zoom-type meeting resulting in a signed contract doesn’t happen, the client may be notified via other methods – which could include certified mail – that collections have entered the next stage.)

The Duty to Pay Contract states that the individual has not been able to maintain payments under the original Payment Agreement, and therefore the attempts to recover what’s owed their clinician have been stepped up. Whether or not the clinician continues to provide services when a client has a Duty to Pay Contract is entirely the clinician’s decision.

The Duty to Pay Contract is in lieu of using the services of a collections agency. The value to the client is that their credit score is not affected, and the therapeutic relationship with the clinician isn’t necessarily severed.

Cost of This Service:

Our fee for the Duty to Pay service is $35.00 per hour (plus 10% of whatever is recovered from the client), billed in quarter hour increments, with weekly invoices emailed to you on Sunday evenings. The clinician may also choose to add the hourly cost of HHS’s services to the Duty to Pay Contract.

Small Claims Court.

When all else fails… Few clinicians are willing to take this step but to not include it as a possible final resort is – as my late husband used to say – like being a dog with no bite in its bark.

You don’t need a lawyer to take someone to small claims court, and we don’t advise it because of the expense. We obviously don’t advise that you yourself go to court against a client of yours.

If necessary, we will take the client to small claims court on your behalf.

Cost of This Service.

We charge $100 per hour for this service, which – along with all court filing fees and other expenses – will be added to the amount the client owes.

After Small Claims Court.

The reality is that even after a judgment has been rendered, some people won’t pay. We will continue to follow up with your client unless and until you decide otherwise.

Cost of This Service:

Our fee for the Post Small Claims Court service is $35.00 per hour (plus 10% of whatever is recovered from the client), billed in quarter hour increments, with weekly invoices emailed to you on Sunday evenings.