Allina Health | Aetna’s New Integrated Billing Experience Making Health Insurance Simpler

By Andrea Kao, Vice President of Innovation

Health insurance can leave many people scratching their heads. Medical bills, benefits and understanding what you’re responsible for paying vs. what your insurance is covering can be confusing. In fact, more than half of those surveyed in a health care consumer experience study said they find it stressful paying a health care bill. At Allina Health | Aetna, we want to change this experience to make it simpler and easier to understand. We believe our members deserve to have transparency in their care and the way their benefits are delivered.

So, how do we make understanding your health insurance and medical bills as simple as possible? Allina Health | Aetna’s new partnership with Allina Health creates a frictionless billing experience for members, and we are proud to be the first insurance plan in Minnesota to offer an integrated billing experience. This means you won’t have to reconcile the explanation of benefits from Allina Health | Aetna with a separate bill from Allina Health, but instead will have one view that shows how Allina Health | Aetna has applied payments to the bill and will make it easier for people to handle their care and resolve their medical bills.

How It Works

Most health insurance plans and health systems don’t have the same billing or payment system, which is why medical bills and statements of benefits can be confusing and frustrating. A frictionless billing experience is a streamlined process for understanding your benefits, your medical bill and the payments you might owe. Our new system is powered by Cedar’s platform.

Let’s look at an example of how it will work. Say “Mary” visits Allina Health for her annual physical. After that visit, she will receive an online statement from Allina Health that details the reason for her visit, what Allina Health charged for the visit, what portion Allina Health | Aetna insurance covered and what Mary owes, all in one place. The statement also details Mary’s current Allina Health | Aetna out-of-pocket/deductible status.

Frictionless billing helps the patient and the provider. It creates a more positive patient experience. According to Cedar case studies, they’ve seen an 87% patient satisfaction rate when using the platform to pay medical bills.

Simple Billing, Greater Support for You

With a rise in high deductible plans in recent years, you have a greater financial responsibility for your health care needs. Unless you’re tracking every dollar and cent you’ve spent, figuring out if you’ve hit your deductible or when you’ll hit it can be a guessing game.

In addition, you have to wear two hats as the patient receiving care and the member dealing with medical bills. As a patient, you’re not always sure what will and won’t be covered. As a member, you’re left asking your health insurance plan questions about benefits after you’ve received care. Providing a seamless billing experience allows you to wear one hat and know what is being covered and what your responsibility is for the care you receive.

By providing an option that’s easier to understand, our members can be confident that the bill they’re receiving has already been reconciled by insurance and accurately reflects what they are responsible for.