Last Updated on 15, April 2014
The Letter of Guaranteed provided for by some integrated private shield plan has often is used as one of the selling point by financial adviser. Personally I don’t think it is such a good feature and secondly I found a better way of getting your own LOG the DIY way. Before I continue, what is a Letter of Guarantee?
Traditionally the Letter of Guarantee is a credit facility provided for by the insurer. Once the insurer issue the LOG to the hospital, the hospital will hold the insurer fully liable for all hospital cost. The patient does not need to pay a single cent to the hospital. Instead the patient will pay the insurer the amount for which the insurance contract is not liable for. Such a credit facility can be useful because you do not need to raise cash if the admission is an emergency. This helps in the cash flow.
The LOG provided by the shield plan providers are not at all the same as the traditional LOG. Instead, the Letter of Guarantee merely waives the initial admission deposit. Upon discharge, the patient is required to settle all outstanding bills. So the letter of credit is merely for the deposit but the patient is still required to pay the bill before discharge. The worst part is that one provider takes at least 24 hours to issue the Letter of Guaranteed. I got so much scolding from the client’s family and they must have thought that I was lazy. I have such a bad experience with this insurer that I will never mention its LOG facility to my clients anymore because to me it was non-existence. The LOG facility is another marketing gimmick.
But I found another way to get your Letter of Guarantee the DIY way.
In a recent case, my client (the patient) was admitted to hospital. The bill was fully paid by a friend’s credit card. Subsequently when the insurer admitted its liability, it refunded the amount it is liable for to the hospital. I called the hospital and told them not to issue the refund by cheque but instead refund it by reversing the credit card transaction. They agreed to do it.
Here you go… cashless (well almost) payment using your own “LOG” the DIY way!
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