Many insurance companies are already affiliated with the AssurCard system.
These insurers enjoy a number of benefits thanks to this partnership:
- Extra services to the insured
- Less administration thanks to electronic claim filing
- Largely electronic hospital billing, which again means less administration
Almost all Belgian general hospitals now accept AssurCard.
The third party payer system: why?
People increasingly are taking out a supplementary hospitalisation insurance policy. The cost of admission to a hospital can be substantial. It is also clear that treatment is becoming more expensive for the patient. Thus, hospitalisation insurance is becoming very popular.
Due to the high price of hospitalisation, it is important that the insured know whether their insurance company will pay the hospital bill directly to the hospital. This avoids them first having to pay significant amounts that they perhaps do not even have available.
This is a very important service to the insured, and one that certainly is appreciated.
Third party payer system in practice
What should an AssurCard user do when he or she is hospitalised? Read the roadmap here.
Advantages of the third party payer system:
- This system is an important service to the client. He or she is not required to make an advance payment upon admission, and the insurance company later pays the hospital bill
- (Electronic) billing makes claim handling fully paperless
- Electronic billing makes it possible to collect statistical information which the insurer can use for actuarial studies