We use Spruce Health, a HIPAA compliant application, to communicate securely with our patients. We can send you an invitation to download the Spruce Health Application on your phone.

Depending on your visit type, you will receive several forms via email from Bayou City Breastfeeding. These intake forms must be completed at least 24 hours PRIOR to your scheduled appointment. Failure to complete the intake forms may result in your appointment being rescheduled or delayed. Please let us know if you do not receive your forms via email within an hour of booking your appointment.

Because lactation visits last several hours, late cancellations cause significant problems and often a late cancellation means that another family was not helped.

Our company policy is to require at least 2 business days(minimum 48 hour) notice to cancel an appointment without charge. Appointments that are cancelled with less than 48 hour notice will be charged a cancellation fee. If you miss your appointment and did not contact us to cancel your appointment ahead of time, you will be charged the full visit fee.

The full Bayou City Breastfeeding Payment policy can be viewed here.

We require that all patients provide a credit card prior to the initial visit.  We will not schedule your appointment without having a credit card on file

• You are authorizing us to save your card in your file and use it to pay the following fees:
• Late cancellation or no-show fees 
• Home Visit Trip / Convenience fee 
• Co-Pay, co-insurance, deductibles or services that are not covered or denied. 
• Non-covered services
• Fees for non-covered patient

If you have chosen to have a home visit, our standard trip fee/convenience surcharge will be charged to your credit card.

If a travel fee is applied, you understand that this is not eligible for insurance reimbursement.     If you submit a superbill for this charge, the BCB claim to be denied. In this case, you will be liable for paying the full self-pay fee to BCB. 

Insurance plans do not cover the trip fee/convenience charge for having the Lactation Consultant come to your home.

Please see the specific policy for your insurer:

• Aetna
• BlueCross BlueShield
• United Healthcare
• Tricare East
• Sana Health
• Cigna
• Humana
• Multiplan policies

It is the patient's responsibility to ensure that a valid referral is on file for BOTH the parent and the baby PRIOR to any visit.  If a valid referral is NOT on file, we will require you to fill out a self-pay election form to be seen.

If your claim for your visit is denied due to an issue with your referral, you will be responsible for paying at the self-rate.

COST SHARING:

If your policy applies a co-pay, co-insurance or deductible, you will be responsible for paying for these charges.

For plans we are in network with, usually, services are covered at 100% under the mother, but sometimes there is a deductible, co-pay or co-insurance. These charges most commonly apply to baby; however, they may occur on mom in some plans.

Please contact your insurance company to find out if your services will be subject to a deductible, copay or coinsurance. When speaking with them, you can reference the codes we use for our services.

• Home visit codes: 99345/99350, s9443, 99404
• Office visit codes : 99205/99215, s9443, 99404.

Understanding co-pays, co-insurance and deductibles

CLAIM PROCESS:

If we are in network with your insurance company, claims for your care will be sent directly to your insurance company.  The Affordable Care Act (ACA) states that lactation services are preventive and not subject to cost sharing; however, not all plans are subject to the ACA. If your plan is subject to the ACA and the plan applies cost-sharing to your claim, we will submit one appeal for you and wait to receive the final Estimation of Benefits (EOB) before collecting any cost-sharing amounts. If you have a self-funded, ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act), and other plan that does not comply with the ACA, an appeal will NOT be automatically filed, and we will collect any cost-sharing amounts upon receipt of the Estimation of Benefits (EOB) by BCB. 

If any part of either the parent or babies’ claims are applied to cost-sharing, you understand that you are required by law to pay cost-sharing to BCB, and we are required by law to collect these fees. If your insurance provider applies any portion to deductible, coinsurance or copay and our appeal attempt is unsuccessful, BCB will charge your credit card on file. If that charge is unsuccessful for any reason, you will be invoiced, and you agree to pay within 7 days for all applied charges for all visits.  If our appeal is successful and we have already charged you for cost-sharing, you will be refunded any amount of the cost-sharing that BCB recovers from your insurer.   

For our self-pay clients, we offer a timely payment discount. 

Bayou City Breastfeeding (BCB) will provide you with a superbill to send to your insurance for reimbursement.  We do not guarantee that your insurance will reimburse you for your visit. You agree to always keep a valid credit card on file. 

You agree have your visit charged to your credit/debit/FSA/HSA card within 2 business days of the time of the visit.