Winning on Your Reimbursement Journey

Did you miss the free P&A Healthcare Reimbursement spreadsheet and checklist? I’m encouraging you to get your copies. Managing medical reimbursements is one of the most complex tasks employees undertake. Appointments and forms and websites are individually complex and collectively dizzying. The spreadsheet, checklist, and workflow will help you learn and succeed.

Learning any new software or website is challenging. Be patient. Expect a learning curve on your reimbursement journey.

My Journey

I had too many medical appointments than I would like in the past 18 months. So, I got my “gear” together and began pedaling up my mountain of possible claims. I had some crashes and some wins as I tried out the P&A tool.

As I struggled up and coasted down, I started to write a blog post about how to submit claims. This idea turned into two months of work and three detailed posts. (I’ve been watching Le Tour de France. Can you tell?)

My three posts boil down to three simple points:

Organize and name your files.
Use a spreadsheet to track your expenses.
Learn a workflow to stay on track for submissions.

To make these three posts even more useful, think of them as a free “user manual” to help you to submit your claims. This post will help you try my method.

Simplifying Your Journey

Let’s get you geared up.

First, you need to think differently. Forget how you did reimbursements in the past, submitting lots of medical expenses in a big block.

Instead, submit smaller claim amounts closer to when the expense occurred (when possible). There are several reasons for this:

Each expense submitted is reviewed individually, so smaller claims will result in less confusion when a claim is sent back for any reason (not unusual).
You may receive multiple payments for a single claim (reason unknown). With smaller claims, it’s easier to match the deposits with the related claims.
- Group similar items to avoid P&A breaking up your submission. I can only suggest you take your best guess what similar expenses will be.
You’re limited to ten claims per submission.
It’s easier for you to keep up with your healthcare details.

Your Journey

Get your free tools and follow a workflow. Let’s hit the road:

Download the checklist. It corresponds to the blog posts and also links back to them to help you find what you’re looking for. You could save it in Google Drive.
Download the sample spreadsheet template. (Again, save it to Drive, if you like).
- Make this spreadsheet your own and start using it.
- I updated the examples to show how your expenses can be recorded for:
  - EOBs
  - mileage
  - items to follow up
  - a manual claim
  - a claim that was paid out in multiple checks
- Look back at these examples from time to time.
You’re ready to follow the workflow.
Go back to the three posts whenever you need detailed help. Notice the table of contents at the top of the last two posts. These help you find your way quickly to the specific help you need. (Here’s an example, this link takes you to my advice for maps and mileage.)