Medical bills can be
confusing or hard to understand. We’re here to help. Our Patient Financial
Services representatives are available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
at (888) 71-CARLE, (888) 712-2753.
We can answer questions
about the Carle Health “consolidated bill” – which includes charges for Carle
Physician Group, Carle Foundation Hospital, Carle Hoopeston Regional Health
Center, Carle Richland Memorial Hospital, Carle West Physician Group, Carle
BroMenn Medical Center and Carle Eureka Hospital.
Patients in the Greater Peoria area – who get a bill with charges from Carle Health Methodist Hospital, Carle Health Pekin Hospital, Carle Health Proctor Hospital, or any other Carle Health locations or clinics – can contact us at (844) 849-1260. Note: Some of the answers to the billing questions below may not apply to patients in the Greater Peoria area due to the recent change of ownership. If you ever have questions, give us a call.
You’ll be charged “medical
fee(s)” – these pay for the cost of delivering your service. Carle
Health has created a “standard fee schedule” of costs, based on costs at
similar places (and for similar things) around the country. Carle Health isn’t
forced to accept less money than what they bill you – you’ll be responsible for
paying any unpaid amounts.
You might see two
different types of fees on your bill. “Facility fees” are the costs charged
by the hospital. “Professional fees” are the costs charged by the doctors (and
other professional medical providers who care for you). What may look like
a double/repeated charge on your bill is actually correct – one is the “facility
fee,” and one’s the “professional fee.”
This type of billing is
called “provider-based billing.” It’s used nationwide in many healthcare
systems like ours.
Please call your
insurance company before your visit/procedure. They can help answer your
questions. You can usually find their phone number on your insurance ID card.
If there is a change in your name, address or insurance information, please call us right away at (888) 71-CARLE, (888) 712-2753.
Call us at (888) 71-CARLE, (888) 712-2753; visit one of our Patient Financial Services locations; or
use our online tool. Learn more here.
Carle Health offers a
number of options to help you pay your healthcare bills, including convenient
payment plans and free or discounted care.
Read about our Financial
Assistance Program at carle.org/FinancialAssistance or call us at (888) 71-CARLE,
(888) 712-2753 for more information.
Still have questions?
Call us Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at (888) 71-CARLE, (888) 712-2753. We’re happy to help.
The Carle Health “consolidated
bill” (also called the “consolidated statement”) is for medical services you
may get at any of these locations:
Not all Carle Health locations,
groups and businesses share the same billing system. Because of this, you’ll
get separate bills/statements for charges from: Carle Medical Supply; Arrow
Ambulance; Home Infusion; Carle Health Methodist, Pekin and Proctor hospitals
and associated clinics (for services provided before 12/2/23); the Carle
Extended Business Office; or other third-party agencies. Also, you’ll
receive separate bills/statements for each “guarantor” (person legally
responsible for paying the medical bills) in your household. For questions,
please call the phone number that’s on the bill/statement.
You’ll get a statement every
28 days. You’ll keep getting statements until the account’s self-pay
balance reaches a $0.00 balance or is forwarded to a third-party agency.
You’re sent “e-statements”
(electronic bills/statements) unless you tell us you’d like them to come by
mail. With e-statements, you can
view, print or save a copy right from your computer. The e-statement is the
exact same as the paper statement. If you want to get your statement by mail,
please call us at (888) 71-CARLE,
(888) 712-2753.
When will I receive my e-statement?
You’ll get your next
e-statement on the actual statement date – you won’t have to wait days
for it in the mail because it’s sent to you electronically. We send statements
on a regular cycle.
Yes, all of your personal information is safe, protected and encrypted.
If your email address
changes, you need to update your email address with us so we can send all
future messages to your new email. To do this, log
into your MyCarle account and click
the icon to view your statement or enroll in e-delivery; then follow the
"Profile" link to view your information and update your email
address.
If any questions come up,
please log
into your MyCarle account and look
at the "Contact us" section on the right side of your screen –
here you’ll find the contact information to best reach us.
When signing
into MyCarle, click on the
"Forgot password?" link under the password box. You’ll be asked
to enter your username, and then you’ll get an email sent to you. This email
will have a link to reset your password.
The statement lists the
total balance due. But if you have a payment arrangement with Carle Health, you
only need to pay that amount at this time, not the total balance
that’s listed.
If any of your charges
are paid for in full, they’ll not show up on your statement any more. But you can always log
into your MyCarle account to double-check
your recent payments.
The “guarantor” (the person
legally responsible for paying the medical bills) is held responsible
for payments for all charges for the medical services received.
Balances must be paid in
full by the due date on the first statement.
The guarantor is also
responsible for any charges that are “pending” (waiting action) from the
insurance company.
Copayments, coinsurance
and deductibles – costs that the guarantor themselves pays out of their own
pocket, based on the specifics of their insurance plan – are due to Carle
Health at the time you receive your medical service, even though some charges
may still be pending with your insurance company.
If you don’t want to pay
online, you can mail your payment – along with your statement top – to the
payment address that’s listed on your statement.
You can also pay in
person – at the time of your medical service – at the registration desk or kiosk.
Or you can make an easy
payment by phone, 24/7, by calling (888) 71-CARLE,
(888) 712-2753.
Carle Health accepts
cash, check, money order, and debit or credit cards (Mastercard, Discover or
Visa).
Carle Health offers automatic
payment plans – where we can deduct your payment automatically from your
checking or savings accounts, or from a qualified debit or credit card –
for the statement you’ve most recently received. Note: New charges/balances you
get after you set up the automatic payment are not included; you’ll
probably need to set up a new automatic payment for these.
To use an automatic
payment plan, you must pay at least a certain amount every month. There
are also time limits for how long you get to pay off the entire balance.
You can’t set up an automatic
payment plan if you don’t have an email address.
Automatic payment plans
will not guarantee the withholding of an account from placement with a
third-party agency. A declined payment may qualify the account for placement
with a third-party agency.
Your payment will be
processed and posted to your account within two to five business days.
Yes. We can transfer
your overpayment to an open balance you have on another Carle Health account.
If you don’t have any open balances or charges that need paying, we’ll send you
a refund for your overpayment.
Yes. You can pay online by logging
into your MyCarle account. You can
also make a one-time payment on the Pay My Bill page.
Full payment for your
charges is expected at the time of your medical service or when you get your
bill/statement. If you can’t pay the full amount due, you may qualify for a
monthly payment arrangement.
Call us at (888) 71-CARLE, (888) 712-2753 to talk about a payment arrangement. Please know that
certain services might not qualify for a payment arrangement, and that even if
you set up an arrangement, it can be reviewed, changed or ended by Carle Health
later on. Also, a missed payment can qualify the account for placement with a
third-party agency.
No. Carle Health will
split your payment across all your balances that are due.
Self-pay guarantor
accounts that aren’t paid in a timely manner will be referred to a third-party
agency, such as a collection agency,
for additional collection activities.
Third-party agencies may
use “extraordinary collection activities” (ECAs) like:
·
Starting actions that
require the legal or judicial process.
·
Lawsuits.
·
Placement of “liens” –
in other words, seeking the right to keep possession of your property or
belongings until you pay your balance.
·
“Wage garnishments” – in
other words, seeking the right to take the money you earn (for example, from
work) to pay your balance.
·
Reporting negative
information about you/the guarantor to consumer credit-reporting agencies or
credit bureaus.
The following are outpatient
departments of Carle Foundation Hospital:
·
Clinical departments in
the North and South clinic buildings on the Urbana hospital campus.
·
Except Oral and
Maxillofacial Surgery on North Clinic 1.
·
All clinical departments
in the main hospital or on the Urbana hospital campus.
·
Expanding Children’s
Hearing Opportunities (ECHO) program.
·
Ambulatory locations at
Mahomet, Monticello and Rantoul.
·
Occupational Medicine at
Carle Danville at The Riverfront, for worker’s comp visits only.
·
Lab and Radiology
services at Carle Danville at The Riverfront.
·
Carle Spine Institute.
·
North Annex.
·
Occupational Medicine at
North Annex, for workers' comp visits only.
·
Carle Champaign on
Curtis.
·
Carle Champaign on Mattis.
·
Carle Urbana on Windsor.
·
Ambulatory location for
Orthopedics and Sports Medicine.
·
Plastic Surgery Center.
·
Clinical departments at
Carle Outpatient Services at The Fields.
·
Except Oral and
Maxillofacial Surgery.
The following are outpatient departments of Carle BroMenn Medical Center:
· Radiation Oncology and Radiology at Carle Cancer Institute Normal.
·
Center for Wound Healing
and Hyperbaric Medicine.
·
Carle MRI in
Bloomington.
·
Cardiology,
Cardiovascular Surgery and Pediatric Cardiology.
· Carle Normal on College
· Carle Bloomington on Eastland
· Pulmonology
·
Vein Clinic in Normal.
·
Family Medicine in
Bloomington, Normal, Fairbury and Le Roy.
·
Endocrinology.
·
Neuroradiology.
·
Rheumatology.
·
Pediatrics in
Bloomington.
· Bariatrics at Carle BroMenn Outpatient Center.
The following are
outpatient departments of Carle Health Methodist Hospital (CHMH):
*Effective December 2,
2023
·
Breast and High-Risk
Breast Clinic at CHMH Atrium.
·
Cardiovascular Services at
CHMH Atrium.
·
Psychiatry at CHMH.
·
Sleep Lab and EEG at CHMH
Atrium.
·
Suspicion of Cancer Clinic.
· Perinatology at CHMH.
The following are outpatient departments of Carle Richland Memorial Hospital (CRMH):
· West Salem.
· Olney Primary Care.
· Surgical Services Clinic.
In these locations, you’ll
be charged for any services done by the doctor (or other medical provider),
and you’ll also receive other, separate charges from the hospital
for facility services.
Depending on your
insurance, you may have one copay (or coinsurance) cost for the doctor/provider
and a separate one for the hospital, for a single visit.
If you have secondary insurance
coverage, any additional copay/coinsurance and deductible may be covered by
your secondary insurance.
This type of billing is
called “provider-based billing.” It’s used nationwide in many healthcare
systems like ours.
“Provider-based status”
is a national model of practice for healthcare systems, like Carle Health, that
include both hospitals and doctors’ offices. Put simply, it means that doctors’
offices are labeled as departments of the hospital. One of the pluses
of having provider-based status is being able to participate in the 340B Drug Pricing
Program (see more below).
This type of billing – “provider-based billing” – is new to
me. Will I notice changes or see anything that looks different from what I’m
used to?
Depending on your insurance,
you might notice a change in your copays or coinsurance (what you pay
out of your own pocket – rather than what insurance pays). Changes will not
impact patients covered by Medicaid.
You’ll continue to get
one single bill for the care you get at Carle Health, but multiple charges
will be listed on this bill – the charges from the hospital and those from the
doctors/providers. This is no different from the way Carle Health bills
for other hospital-based services, like those you get in the Emergency
Department, at Therapy Services, and for lab services and surgeries.
If you have questions about your bills, please call Carle Health Patient Financial Services at (888) 71-CARLE, (888) 712-2753.
Why does Carle Health use “provider-based status” and
“provider-based billing”?
This helps us
continue to meet the healthcare needs of our communities, now and into the
future. It makes sure we get fair payment amounts for the medical
services we provide and it lets us take part in a drug-pricing program run by
the government (see more below), which helps us lower the total cost of care.
By using the “provider-based”
model, Carle Health is ensuring it can keep providing charity care and
community benefit programs for those who need it most – and keep bringing the
highest level of care to our communities for years to come.
What if I'm having trouble paying my medical bills?
Carle Health offers a
number of options to help you pay your medical bills, including convenient payment
plans and free or discounted care.
Read about our Financial
Assistance Program at carle.org/FinancialAssistance or call us at (888) 71-CARLE,
(888) 712-2753 for more information.
What is the 340B Drug Pricing Program?
It’s a program run by
the U.S. government that gives discounts to hospitals on some drugs they buy
for use in hospital outpatient locations. It helps nonprofit healthcare systems
like Carle Health stretch limited resources as far as possible, to help more
patients and provide more services.