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Payment & Insurance

Co-Pay Policy

Co-payments on insurance coverage are due at the beginning of the visit when you check in. Steward Family Medicine accepts cash, check, or credit card payment. Checks should be made out to “Steward Family Medicine” prior to arrival. Because Dr. Steward sees only half the volume of patients most physicians see in a day (allowing more time with each patient & better continuity of care), it is necessary to collect these payments at the time of the visit to keep the practice financially solvent. Inability to provide the required co-pay at the time of services will result in a $10 service charge since it necessitates additional billing/bookkeeping costs on our part.

Collections Policy

In general, payments for office visits have 3 parts: co-pay, coverage paid by insurance (which is submitted electronically by SFM to your insurer), and any balance remaining. If you have a balance remaining after your visit, you will be mailed a bill. It is your responsibility to pay this remaining balance. All bills not paid within 30 days of mailing may incur the maximum annual interest rate allowed by Alaska state law. Bills not paid within 120 days may be sent to a collection agency and the patient dismissed from the practice. All personal checks returned for non-sufficient funds will be assessed a $25 fee. All patients submitted to a collection agency will be responsible for a 35% collection fee in addition to the balance owed to Steward Family Medicine. Please note that bills sent to the collection agency may negatively affect your credit rating.

Insurance

Your insurance coverage is a contract between you and your insurance carrier, not between your insurance carrier and Dr. Steward. Steward Family Medicine cannot waive co-pays, deductibles, and uncovered services as they are requirements placed on you by your insurance company. If you have any questions about your coverage or what is covered, you should contact your carrier at the customer service number listed on your card.

Dr. Steward is currently a preferred provider for Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Steward Family Medicine also welcomes other carriers as well as cash payments. Because there are many insurance carriers with many plans and individual requirements, it is the patient’s responsibility to know and understand his own plan. We will, as a courtesy, bill your insurance company for you, but ultimately, you are financially responsible for any costs incurred in your office visit.

Unfortunately, we cannot accept Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare, or Workman’s Compensation. Medicare, Medicaid, and Tricare plans reimburse primary care physicians at such a low rate that overhead is not even covered. As a new practice, it is impossible to accept these patients and break even. Much as we would like to serve people with these coverage plans, to do so would result in closing our doors to ALL patients because of financial insolvency. Dr. Steward encourages patients with these insurance carriers to contact their representatives in Congress regarding the primary care reimbursement situation. Workman’s Compensation, along with the above mentioned insurance carriers, requires such time intensive paperwork to receive payment that it is not practical for an office with limited staff.

Form Completion Policy

All paper forms for Dr. Steward to complete (school physicals, immunization records, etc.) should be submitted for completion at the time of service. Forms submitted outside of the office visit should be given three business days for completion. If you need the form faster, there will be a $10 service fee to process the form as Dr. Steward will be using appointment time to complete it.