Insurance & Billing

Insurance

We accept insurance from the following providers:

Billing FAQ

Will my bill be sent to the insurance carrier?

Yes, we will file your claim with your insurance carrier. If you do not have insurance coverage, or if insurance does not cover all of your charges, you will be billed. Our expectation is that bills be paid within thirty days. If you have difficulty paying your bill in full, please call our billing office to arrange an alternate payment arrangement.

Why is my insurance not paying for the entire bill?

We have contracts with most major insurance companies. If the insurance company does not pay per our contract with them, we must send them an appeal for additional payment. A patient need do nothing during this process, unless he or she would like to call their insurance company to help speed up the process.

If we do not have a contract with a patient's insurance company, then the balance of the account becomes the responsibility of the patient. In this event, the patient should immediately contact our billing office. We generally have had good success in partnering with patients to obtain additional considerations from their insurance companies.

Why hasn't my insurance company been billed?

We bill using information provided by the medical facility in which your procedure was performed. Sometimes this information is incomplete or inaccurate. To correct any problems, please contact our billing office directly.

Why do I have two anesthesia charges for the same day?

Some insurance companies require that separate billing be submitted for services of Physicians, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists, and Anesthesia Assistants. If a Nurse Anesthetist or Anesthesia Assistant participated in your care, you may see separate bills for them, in addition to that from your Anesthesiologist. The insurance company will reconcile these charges and process your claim appropriately.

Why do I have a charge for my preanesthesia visit?

Utilization of preanesthesia assessment clinics has become the national standard for providing excellent anesthetic care. Such visits ensure that a patient's health is optimized prior to surgery. They allow time to obtain additional consults or tests while assuring that indicated tests get performed on each patient. The visits enable an Anesthesiologist to take time with each patient, create an anesthetic plan specifically for that patient and take the time to discuss and explain the plan. Furthermore, much of the information nurses need to obtain, and instructions they need to give, may be communicated at the preanesthesia visit. This helps each patient know what to expect both in the time leading up to surgery and during recovery. Also, it makes a patient's experience on the day of surgery much smoother. Because of the importance of this visit for many surgeries, we commit an Anesthesiologist specializing in perioperative medicine to conduct these evaluations. Our charges are for that Anesthesiologist's time and expertise.

Do you accept credit cards?

Yes. MasterCard, Visa and Discover. We are able to process credit card payments electronically over the phone.

Our Billing Office:

South County Anesthesia Associates
P.O. Box 22407
St. Louis, MO 63126

(636)386-7222
email: patientaccounts@scaastl.com

patients do better when
they're informed.