Thank you Maria.  I wholeheartedly agree with you.  I read each contract
carefully and always request a fee schedule.  I have refused to sign a
contract with an insurance company that offered a low reimbursement rate.
 When this happens, we need to have it documented that the rate offered is
offensive and inadequate.  I escalated it to their review board and was
denied my request to increase the rate.  Each one of us bears that
responsibility to make sure the contracts we sign are commensurate with
market value for our services.  When we price our services in general, we
need to make sure we are not undervaluing our services.  Both the contracts
we accept and the prices we set/ submit to insurance set the precedent for
IBCLCs who come after us.

If we accept insurance, it's crucial to understand the billing and coding
aspect of it in order to properly document and submit claims for
reimbursement.

I appreciate the reminder to all of us to not give away our services for
free.  We need to have good business sense as we work with insurance.

Desiree

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