The DBC System and Your Deductible
You went to the hospital for a checkup in January of this year, but this visit will be applied to your 2022 deductible—even though you didn’t set foot in the hospital that year.
How exactly does it work?
This may sound like a mistake, but it isn’t. It’s due to the billing system used by healthcare providers and health insurers: the DBC system.
Here’s how it works: When you’re admitted to the hospital, you aren’t billed separately for each procedure. Instead, this is done through a DBC. A DBC is opened on the first day of your visit to the specialist and forms the basis of your medical bill. Hospital visits, treatments, and checkups are all billed through this DBC. There are actually two systems that are related: your deductible and the DBCs. And that can be confusing.
If you, as a patient, have questions about the start and end dates of a DBC, it’s best to call your hospital’s administrative department. The health insurer does not have access to the DBC system, because the hospital submits the bill only after the DBC has already been closed.
