State Laws Related to Billing Third Parties for Health Care Services at Public Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinics in the United States. Issue 8 (August 2018) - Cramer, Ryan
Abstract : Background: Health departments (HDs) cite state laws as barriers to billing third parties for sexually transmitted disease (STD) services, but the association between legal/policy barriers and third-party HD billing has not been examined. This study investigates the relationship between laws that may limit HDs' ability to bill, clinic perceptions of billing barriers, and billing practices. Methods: Two surveys, (1) clinic managers (n = 246), (2) STD program managers (n = 63), conducted via a multiregional needs assessment of federally funded HD clinics' capacity to bill for STD services, billing/reimbursement practices, and perceived barriers were combined with an analysis of state laws regarding third-party billing for STD services. Statistical analyses examined relationships between laws that may limit HDs' ability to bill, clinic perceptions, and billing practices. Results: Clinic managers reported clinics were less likely to bill Medicaid and other third parties in jurisdictions with a state law limiting their ability to bill compared with respondents who billed neither or 1 payer (odds ratio [OR], 0.31; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.10–0.97) and cited practical concerns as a primary barrier to billing (OR, 2.83; 95% CI, 1.50–5.37). The STD program managers report that the staff believed that STD services should be free (OR, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.13–0.90) was associated with not billing (not sure versus no resistance to billing); confidentiality concerns was not a reported barrier to billing among either sample. Conclusions: Practical concerns and clinic staff beliefs that STD services should be free emerged as possible barriers to billing, as were laws to a lesser extent. Attempts to initiate HD billing for STD services may benefit from staff education as well as addressing perceived legal barriers and staff concerns. Abstract : A study of state laws related to billing third parties for health care services in US public sexually transmitted disease clinics and associations with clinic billing practices and perceptions of barriers to billing.