HOSPITAL: Billing fix underway

Western Medical Associates is the independent group of physicians who provide emergency medical care to patients in Kootenai Health’s emergency department. Recently, Western Medical has been negotiating new contracts with local insurance companies. During these negotiations, Western Medical did not have a contract in place with these insurance companies. Most of these insurance companies held claims until the new contract was in place. Others retroactively covered care at the contracted rate and the amount billed to patients was corrected. However, at least one carrier has said it will not honor the contracted “in network” rate for care rendered to its members during the contract negotiation period.

Western Medical very much wants to ensure patients are not negatively impacted by contract negotiations. We are now actively reaching out to patients who were seen during the contract negotiation period to make sure their bills were correct or are quickly corrected. While legally, patients are still responsible for any co-pay, co-insurance or deductible payments, Western Medical Associates will adjust their bills to reflect acceptance of in-network rates during the contract lapse period.

If you received a bill from Western Medical for care received after March 1, 2019, and you have a question about your bill, please call the billing office at 800-471-9786, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Currently, Western Medical has contracts in place with most insurance plans in our region. As new insurance plans that have contracts with Kootenai Health are identified, we are working to contract with them as well. On behalf of all the physicians at Western Medical Associates, we sincerely apologize for the confusion and inconvenience. We look forward to having this unfortunate issue resolved quickly for all our patients.

TOM NICKOL, M.D.

Emergency Dept. physician

Western Medical Associates