Unpaid medical bills creating confusion
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
A growing number of tribal members are being targeted by collection agencies after their insurance failed to pay medical bills, according to Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribal health director Kevin Howlett. The tribes issued a release last week attempting to clear up some of the confusion surrounding the issue, as people who find that the federally administered Indian Health Services program has reneged on their healthcare coverage may not understand that tribal health isn’t responsible for the problem.
“There is tribal health, and there is IHS, and they’re two very different things,” CSKT spokesman Rob McDonald said.
IHS is funded by Congress and has $10 million allocated to providing contract healthcare to eligible CSKT members and descendants.
“The IHS has the $10 million to buy the care; the tribes do not,” Howlett said.
Most of the bills that aren’t being paid for are not primary care bills, Howlett noted, but he’s not sure how extensive the problem is. People with bills as old as 4 or 5 years now are getting calls from debt collectors, he said.
Whether the problem stems from a lack of funding for IHS or not, simply not paying patients’ bills is no way for the agency to handle the issue, Howlett and McDonald agreed.
“Generally, (IHS has) money problems,” McDonald said. “We do know that this has been going on for years where our people are told, ‘Yes, this is covered; we do pay for that,’ … but it goes to a collection agency.”
The problem with IHS doesn’t just affect the Flathead Reservation; from talking with tribal health administrators across the country, Howlett’s learned than the issue is a national one.
“(IHS) could do a better job; there’s no question in my mind,” Howlett said. “It’s a poor exhibition of managing health resources.”
There are three main aspects of the issue that tribal health has to consider, he explained: Firstly, as a payer, IHS has a legal obligation to pay for covered services; secondly, healthcare providers don’t always get the complete information they need from the patient in order to bill IHS; and thirdly, patients may ignore medical bills they think IHS is covering, thus prolonging the problem.
“There’s a lot to do in terms of better communication … the patient should not be caught in the middle of this,” Howlett said. “The tribes are committed to trying to find a resolution.”
Billings-based IHS associate area director Garfield Little Light said any problem with IHS paying CSKT patients’ bills is a recent development due to St. Joseph Medical Center in Polson and St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula switching billing companies. Some bills have been sent directly to patients instead of to IHS, he explained.
“It’s just this situation with the transition, mostly because the billing company was not fully aware of the process that IHS uses to pay for care,” Little Light said. “It’s just one biller; it’s not all over.”
If similar issues have been going on for years as Howlett believes, Little Light said, “that’s news to me.”
Howlett said anyone covered by IHS who has received a notice of collection or continues to receive bills that remain unpaid should contact the following offices:
IHS/CHS in St. Ignatius:
Spina Grant, 406-745-2411 x5053 or the Billings Area Office, Attention: Rita Neuman, BAO, POB 36600, Billings, MT 59107, 406-247-7202.
Tribal Health:
Teri Robison, RN, Tribal Health & Human Services, POB 880, St. Ignatius, MT 59865, 406-745-3525, x5044.
