Patient credit balances occur when a health care provider collects more coinsurance, copays and/or deductibles than it earned. Although this situation arguably beats the alternative of trying to collect earned fees from patients who underpaid, the fact that the collected fees are unearned means the health care provider has inadvertently accepted fiduciary responsibility for the funds. In addition to having to safeguard the funds from potential loss, the health care provider is also facing penalties and interest from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts (the “Comptroller”) for failing to timely turn over unclaimed property.
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