The Financial Services department assists patients through multiple areas of the hospital including: Financial Counselors, Cashier, Customer Service Call Center, Central Registration, Pre-Registration, Business Office, Scheduling and Operators.

If you have general questions or concerns about your hospital bill, call our Customer Service number at 256-737-2986, Monday-Friday, 8:00 am – 4:30 pm.

Financial Services

Insurance / Medicare

Prior to hospital admission, you will be asked to provide your insurance identification card. Our staff will verify your coverage, review your benefits and estimate the amount due from you. You will be responsible for deductibles, copays and/or charges above that coverage and will be asked to pay those amounts prior to or during your stay.

While we will strive to optimize your insurance coverage, patients are ultimately responsible for charges incurred when using hospital services. A financial counselor may visit your room during your stay to explain your financial obligation and assist you in establishing payment arrangements. If you have questions, assistance may be obtained by calling one of the following:

For last names beginning with A-L, call 256-737-2678
For last names beginning with M-Z, call 256-737-2677

Price Transparency – Patient Price List

Professional Fees

Your hospital bill does not include fees for the professional services of your physicians, anesthesiologists, surgeons or consulting physicians. You may also receive bills from specialists, which include radiologists or pathologists who bill separately for their services.

Charity Policy and Application

Charity financial assistance is available to eligible patients receiving medically necessary services. You are required, however, to complete the Financial Assistance Application and submit supporting documentation to verify your need for financial assistance.

No Surprise Billing Act

Plain Language Statement

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has developed rules to provide protection for consumers of medical services from “Surprise Billing.”  In general terms what this means is that providers that are non-participating, or commonly known as “Out-of-Network”, with a patient’s insurance plan can’t bill the patient in excess of the amounts that the patient would be responsible for had their plan been in network.  This provision does not apply to Medicare, Medicaid and certain other Federal programs.  It also doesn’t apply to all situations.

Cullman Regional participates, meaning we are “In Network”, with most local and state plans and have contracted rates with those plans.  In the event that you require, or request, services from a plan that we aren’t contacted with we will work with that plan to determine what you would have owed had we been In Network and will adjust your bill accordingly.  If you are uninsured, or choose not to file your insurance, we will provide you with an estimate of your out-of-pocket cost.

For additional information, click the tab below labeled “Your Rights and Protections Against Surprise Medical Bills” or go to https://www.cms.gov/nosurprises.

Your Rights and Protections Against Surprise Medical Bills

When you get emergency care or get treated by an out-of-network provider at an in-network hospital or ambulatory surgical center, you are protected from surprise billing or balance billing.

What is “balance billing” (sometimes called “surprise billing”)?

When you see a doctor or other health care provider, you may owe certain out-of-pocket costs, such as a copayment, coinsurance, and/or a deductible. You may have other costs or have to pay the entire bill if you see a provider or visit a health care facility that isn’t in your health plan’s network.

“Out-of-network” describes providers and facilities that haven’t signed a contract with your health plan. Out-of-network providers may be permitted to bill you for the difference between what your plan agreed to pay, and the full amount charged for a service. This is called “balance billing.” This amount is likely more than in-network costs for the same service and might not count toward your annual out-of-pocket limit.

“Surprise billing” is an unexpected balance bill. This can happen when you can’t control who is involved in your care—like when you have an emergency or when you schedule a visit at an in- network facility but are unexpectedly treated by an out-of-network provider.

You are protected from balance billing for:

Emergency services

If you have an emergency medical condition and get emergency services from an out-of-network provider or facility, the most the provider or facility may bill you is your plan’s in-network cost-sharing amount (such as copayments and coinsurance). You can’t be balance billed for these emergency services. This includes services you may get after you’re in stable condition unless you give written consent and give up your protections not to be balanced billed for these post-stabilization services.

Certain services at an in-network hospital

When you get services from an in-network hospital, certain providers there may be out-of-network. In these cases, the most those providers may bill you is your plan’s in-network cost-sharing amount. This applies to emergency medicine, anesthesia, pathology, radiology, laboratory, neonatology, assistant surgeon, hospitalist, or intensivist services. These providers can’t balance bill you and may not ask you to give up your protections not to be balance billed.

If you get other services at these in-network facilities, out-of-network providers can’t balance bill you, unless you give written consent and give up your protections.

Youre never required to give up your protections from balance billing. You also aren’t required to get care out-of-network. You can choose a provider or facility in your plan’s network.

 

When balance billing isn’t allowed, you also have the following protections:

  • You are only responsible for paying your share of the cost (like the copayments, coinsurance, and deductibles that you would pay if the provider or facility was in-network). Your health plan will pay out-of-network providers and facilities directly.
  • Your health plan generally must:
    • Cover emergency services without requiring you to get approval for services in advance (prior authorization).
    • Cover emergency services by out-of-network providers.
    • Base what you owe the provider or facility (cost-sharing) on what it would pay an in-network provider or facility and show that amount in your explanation of benefits.
    • Count any amount you pay for emergency services or out-of-network services toward your deductible and out-of-pocket limit.

If you believe you’ve been wrongly billed, you may contact the third party arbitrator listed on the website below.

Visit https://cms.gov/nosurprises for more information about your rights under federal law.