Healthy Boy

Financial Policy

All of us at STEP Pediatrics, PA, believe it is essential to our patients and their parents that we outline our expectations regarding the financial aspects of your visits with us.  We have developed these policies based on industry standards and past experiences.  These policies are presented in order for you to understand how we interact with you, your insurance company, and some of the constraints we must follow due to contractual and/or legal requirements.

We hope you find these policies useful.  As always, it is our philosophy to work with our patients and their families.  Therefore, we encourage you to contact our Practice Administrator, 281-364-8600, in the event you have any questions regarding the items listed below or if you feel you require any special considerations.

  1. Co pays:  Per our contract with your insurance company, co pays are due and must be collected at the time of service.  Co pays cannot be waived or credited to your account as this would constitute a breach of our contract with your insurance company.  We may have to reschedule any appointment in the event a co-payment cannot be made at the time of the visit.  Generally, we do not collect co-payments for nurse visits as these types of visits are typically not billed as an “office visit.”  However, we will invoice you in the event your insurance company does require a co-payment for that appointment.
  2. Co-Insurance and Deductibles:  We will bill you for any co-insurance or deductible amounts due as identified by your insurance company.
  3. Insurance Billing:  STEP Pediatrics will bill your insurance company for services provided.  By having us bill your insurance company, you are assigning your benefits to STEP Pediatrics.  In order for us to accurately and correctly bill your insurance company, we require for you to provide us with current information.  This includes an up to date copy of your insurance card and a completed patient information sheet.  These documents must be updated on an annual basis or whenever there is a change.  Failure to provide insurance information may result in you being responsible for services rendered that day. 
  4.  Billing/Payment:  STEP Pediatrics will bill, on a monthly cycle, for charges that have been identified as your responsibility.  We will not bill you for charges that are currently submitted to your insurance company or for any contractually agreed upon adjustments.  Payment is required within 20 days of the billing date.
  5. Re-billing Fee:   STEP Pediatrics reserves the right to impose a $10 rebilling fee for any balance that is not paid within 60 days of the billing date.  We reserve the right to impose a $10 service charge to bill your copay.
  6. Missed Appointments:  We respectfully request that you notify us 24 hours ahead of time in the event you cannot make your scheduled appointment so that we have a sufficient amount of time to accommodate other patients.  Continual failure to provide a 24 hour notice and/or failing to show up for appointments may result in the imposition of a $30.00 missed appointment fee and/or discharge from the practice.
  7. Returned Funds:  Any funds returned (i.e. checks) will be charged a $30.00 service fee.
  8. Collections:  We understand that at times there are extenuating circumstances that may limit your ability to pay off any outstanding balance.  In these types of situations we may be able to arrange a payment plan.  However, balances greater than 90 days old and where a payment plan has not been established, may be turned over to an outside collection agency.  In the event this occurs, you may end up being discharged from the practice and responsible for any collections fees incurred by STEP Pediatrics.  We reserve the right to impose a finance charge for delinquent accounts equal to 1.5% per month.
  9. Non-covered Services:  As a subscriber, you are responsible for knowing the terms and limitations of your specific plan.  STEP Pediatrics is not responsible for charges incurred as a result of any particular service not being covered and/or paid for by your plan, nor can the staff of STEP Pediatrics be responsible for knowing the terms of your policy.  You are responsible for any visit treatment, and/or equipment charged for and not covered under your plan. 
  10. Eligibility:  You are responsible to ensure that one of the STEP Pediatrics physicians is eligible to be your primary care physician and is an authorized provider within your insurance plan.  You will be responsible for any charges denied by your insurance company in the event that one of our physicians is not selected as your primary care physician or is not an authorized physician within your specific plan.
  11. Reasonable and Customary Charges:  STEP Pediatrics, not your insurance company, establishes our fee schedule, which is based on published values.  We reserve the right to accept or decline recommendations from your insurance company on what is defined as a reasonable and customary charge.
  12. Ancillary Services:  As a premiere pediatric practice, STEP Pediatrics offers several ancillary, exceptional services such as nutritional support provided by a registered dietician, occupational therapy, and house calls.  These services are fee-for-service and payment in full is expected at the time of service. We will not bill for these value added services nor file on your insurance.  Services provided by Quest Laboratories, Labcorp, other laboratories, or any imaging center are not included in STEP Pediatrics’ prices and you may be bill separately by the provider of those services.

These policies are subject to change based on input from our patients/parents and changes within the industry.  A current copy of this policy will always be available to you either at the office, via fax, or by sending in stamped self-addressed envelope.