Price Information
We know patients are most interested in understanding how much they will pay out of pocket for their care. We offer two ways patients can obtain an estimate for services at our hospital.
Online Price Estimator
Click here to access the online price estimator tool.
Personalized Estimates
Our patient access staff is available to help you understand your health insurance benefits along with your share of the financial responsibility and give you an estimate for the cost of services we provide. This is option will provide you the most accurate estimate.
To speak with one of our patient access team members, you can visit the Patient Access Department, call a team member at (205) 971-1236, Monday through Friday, or email us at PatAccEducation@ballballu.com. Please have the following information available:
- Detailed description of the test(s) or procedure(s) being ordered by the doctor
- Doctor’s name and phone number
- Insurance information (if any), including insurance company name and phone number, policyholder name, policy number and group number located on the insurance card.
Our staff will provide an estimate that includes the following:
- The estimated financial responsibility for the procedure/services based on the standard charge for the procedure/services.
- Patients with health insurance will be quoted an estimated amount that will be due to the hospital based on deductible, co-pay or co-insurance amounts established by their health insurance plan.
- Patients who do not have health insurance will be quoted an estimated amount due to the hospital that will include an uninsured discount.
- Patient Access staff is also available to discuss with patients their eligibility for certain assistance programs such as Medicaid.
Please note: Estimates – either from our patient access staff or obtained online through the payment estimator tool – do not include any services related to complications that may occur during the procedure/services since those cannot be anticipated. Also, charges for physician fees such as surgeon, pathologist, anesthesiologist or radiologist will not be included. These charges are billed separately by the specific provider. Due to these factors, estimates are not exact and cannot be interpreted as a bill or exact costs for services.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) requires hospitals to publish a machine-readable list of their charges. The hospital’s chargemaster, as this list is commonly known, is a comprehensive listing of the standard prices established by the hospital for individual services and supplies and may be accessed here: DOWNLOAD CSV OF CHARGEMASTER. The chargemaster should not be used to estimate a patient’s actual cost of care.
There are several things you should know when you are determining your financial responsibility for your hospital services.
For patients with health insurance through your employer, individual insurance marketplace or the healthcare exchanges:
- Commercial insurers negotiate rates with hospitals on behalf of their members. The rates vary among insurers.
- Several factors can affect the amount a patient owes to a hospital, including the type of plan you have, the amount your insurance benefits require you to pay for co-pays, deductibles and co-insurance.
- Generally, the amount you pay will be less if your hospital and physicians are in-network with your health plan.
- Be sure to review your benefits plan to understand all of the factors affecting your financial responsibility.
For patients with Medicare & Medicaid:
- The government determines how much it will pay a hospital for services provided to Medicare and Medicaid patients. The government also determines a Medicare or Medicaid patient’s out-of-pocket payment amounts (deductibles and co-insurance), if any.
- Medicare Part A generally pays for inpatient hospital services. Some other services received in the hospital, such as physician services, emergency and outpatient care may be paid by Medicare Part B. Medicare Advantage plans are offered by private insurance companies that are approved by Medicare to provide both Part A and Part B benefits. Medicaid programs are required to cover all inpatient and outpatient services, among other things.
For individuals who do not have insurance, carry out-of-network insurance, or who receive services their insurance does not cover:
- Our hospital offers a variety of financial assistance programs, including charity care and discounts for uninsured individuals. Click here to download a financial assistance application.
- We also provide eligibility screening services that can help identify the availability of resources to cover medical services, such as Medicaid.
COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing
The cash price for a COVID-19 diagnostic test is: $102.90. We provide this information to our patients, health insurers, and the general public, pursuant to Section 3202 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.