Customer Reviews

Medical Insurance Billing and Coding: An Essentials Worktext (Book & CD-ROM)

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4 star:		(1)
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First let me say, I spent 8 months in vocational school, scored a 90% on my certification exam, and now teach medical insurance billing for a living. My school requires that I use Fordney's textbook, so I use it. But I heavily supplement it with McGraw-Hill's "Medical Insurance" textbook, which is one of the best textbooks I have ever read.

Fordney's textbook contains some major errors, has no Introductory chapter, has a lousy glossary, and makes an already difficult subject even more confusing. I understand this subject pretty well, but I'm confused after reading her textbook!

Here are some examples of what I mean: (1) Fordney says there are 17 different types of medical insurance. In reality, most of these can be put into one of four categories: individual, group, managed care, and government programs. Some of Fordney's "categories" aren't even insurance programs! (2) Fordney says an "emancipated minor" can be a college student. Now, an emancipated minor is someone who is under 18 years old, and can make decisions about their own medical care _and_pay_their_own_way_. Most college students are over 18, and rely on their parents for funding, at least the first few years. A 17-year-old college student who pays her or his own way is the rare exception, not the rule. (3) Fordney says people have to sign-up for Medicare benefits, and that the time of year for signing-up is important. In reality, most people are automatically enrolled in Medicare Part A within 3 months of their 65th birthday. People who are totally disabled before their 65th birthday have to enroll, but this is usually handled by their physician or attorney for the disability case. People who have worked less than 10 years, or have not had Social Security benefits drawn from their paychecks, may have to enroll. And some nonresident aliens may have to enroll. But again, these are the rare exceptions, not the rule. Basically, Fordney gets the sign-up rules for Medicare Part B confused with Medicare Part A, and makes no distinction between Parts A and B, when in practicality they are Totally Different. Most notably, enrollment in Medicare Part A is automatic, paid for by the Social Security Act, and only covers hospital and some home care (e.g. Hospice). Medicare Part B is by choice only, has to be paid for individually every month, and covers office visits, some preventive care, and basically what most individual health insurance policies cover. (4) Fordney thinks there is a Medicare Part C. The trouble is, neither of the two major Medicare websites (http://www.cms.hhs.gov, and http://www.medicare.gov) know about it! Okay, it doesn't actually exist: Fordney made it up. Technically there is a Medicare Part D, the new prescription drug benefit introduced in late 2004, and that goes into effect in Jan. 2006. But both Medicare websites include this under Medicare Part B.

I'm embarrassed that Marilyn Fordney and I have the same credential...

I have been teaching Insurance Billing and Coding for over 5 years and have used this text to teach my Insurance Billing and Coding classes over the past two years. I believe that this text is very thorough. While there are a few small guidelines that are not accurate, it definitely exceeds other texts in accuracy.

Another reviewer stated that this text discusses Medicare Part C and he/she said that it didn't exist. It does exist and is discussed at length, both in the text and on the CMS website.

The only negative thing that I would say about it is that it doesn't cover coding as well as I would have liked. I generally have to use another text to supplement this text in order to enable my students to practice coding skills with more precision.

Item was easy to find and I got the book at a fraction of the cost. It came in about a week in good condition. I can't complain. I will order more text books like this.

This was my first time ordering from Amazon and I was completely satisfied with the text book, delivery time and especially the price. I will always check with Amazon before paying full price for any more material at the college book store. Thank you so much for the professionalism.

this is an excellent book to have if your going to be a medical specialist and that is what I am studying for. I am so happy I bought this book.