What Training Do I Need for a Medical Insurance Billing Career?
Medical insurance billing workers are often referred to as billing and posting clerks and are responsible for calculating charges, developing bills, and ensuring that bills are mailed on time. Most of the training is done on the job. Read on to find out how to prepare for a job in medical insurance billing.
<h3 id="section---EducationalRequirements">Educational Requirements</h3>
<p>The BLS reports that many medical insurance billing clerks hold at least a high school diploma. However, many insurance companies prefer that applicants have completed at least some college coursework. Some postsecondary programs train students for careers in medical insurance billing. Courses in a medical insurance billing program cover anatomy, coding, computer billing software, and biology.
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<h3 id="section---ImportantFactsAboutMedicalInsuranceBillingClerks">Important Facts About Medical Insurance Billing Clerks</h3>
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<table border="1"><tr><td> <b>Programs</b> </td><td> Medical billing clerk, medical billing and coding, business administrative technology</td></tr>
<tr><td> <b>Degree Level</b> </td><td> Certificates, associate's degrees</td></tr>
<tr><td> <b>Online Availability</b> </td><td> Some programs are available online</td></tr>
<tr><td> <b>Continuing Education</b> </td><td> On-going training may be required to learn new medical billing software programs</td></tr>
</table><h3 id="section---RegulatoryKnowledge">Regulatory Knowledge</h3>
<p>The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulates privacy in the medical insurance industry. Billing clerks are required to understand and follow HIPAA regulations to ensure that patient medical records remain confidential.
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<h3 id="section---JobDuties">Job Duties</h3>
<p>Billing clerks calculate charges correctly, develop bills, and prepare bills for on-time mailing, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS, <i>www.bls.org</i>). A key responsibility of medical insurance billing clerks is to communicate which items can be reimbursed by a hospital or some other healthcare organization.
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<h3 id="section---SalaryInfoAndJobOutlook">Salary Info and Job Outlook</h3>
<p>According to the BLS, the employment of billing and posting clerks in general, including those specializing in insurance, is projected to grow by approximately 1% between 2021 and 2031. In May 2021, the average annual salary earned by billing and posting clerks was published as $42,750 by the BLS.</p>