This page will have resources related to the Service Coordinator Forum on Navigating Financial & Insurance Conversations in EI. If you plan to participate in the forum, please follow our Community Guidelines (pdf). If needed, please download all slides (pdf) from the forum presentation or a printable version of this website (pdf). This resource list will be updated as the forum progresses.
Forum Description
Service coordinators, and other CFC personnel, are invited to connect with EI billing and insurance experts at the CBO within this quarterly forum. This is an open Q&A forum that may address frequently asked questions related to how EI is funded and the use of insurance for EI services. Topics may include (and are not limited to) insurance benefits verification, waivers, exemptions, authorizations, family participation fees, and health savings accounts. Participants can attend each quarter as they see fit based on their questions/needs. Prior to participating, we encourage you to complete a pre-survey to submit questions and topic areas in advance.
Registration is required
Check your email for a link to register for this forum. The link will be mailed quarterly to only IL SC Forum members and CFC Managers. (You may need to join the IL SC forum to get the quarterly invitation to join the Navigating Financial & Insurance Conversations forum.)
Once you've joined the Navigating Financial & Insurance Conversations forum, you will get a registration confirmation email that contains a pre-survey and Zoom information to join the meeting. You only need to register one time and then you will get reminders for upcoming forum events.
EI Credit for Forum Participation
1 hour in Area of Working with Families will be awarded to participants.
Objectives
- Opportunity to gain answers to frequently asked questions from the EI billing and insurance experts at the CBO
- Understand insurance benefit verification and knowing next steps
- Learn about documentation related to insurance benefit verification, waivers and exemptions
- Understand how authorizations impact billing, waivers and exemptions
- Understand health savings accounts, including critical questions to ask and information to obtain potential implications for families
- Gain confidence in explaining how EI is funded and insurance to families and caregivers so they can make informed decisions
Schedule
The forum will meet quarterly for 1 hour on the 2nd Tuesday of January, April, July, and October at 3:00 pm central.
EI-CBO is your best resource for all your billing and insurance concerns! The EI-CBO website facilitates information sharing with early intervention providers, early intervention program participants (parents or guardians), and Child and Family Connections agencies.
This page is specifically for Service Coordinators and other CFC staff and contains videos, job aids, forms, and instructions.
This page of frequently asked questions (FAQs) from CFCs can help answer common questions.
This page of FAQs from Families can be a helpful resource when talking to families. It includes common questions from families and answers from EICBO.
Contains procedures, policies, and forms for Service Coordinators related to insurance and billing.
These modules are part of the "Service Coordination Online" training sponsored by the Early Intervention Training Program. To view all resources for SC Online training, please visit https://go.illinois.edu/SCOnlineResources.
Topics include:
Resources by Topics of Interest
How EI Services are Funded
- How EI Services are Funded (pdf) - provides a visual overview of the funding sources and the flow of funds for billing for EI services. This handout also defines Payor of Last Resort and explains why we bill insurance first.
What EI Services are Billable
Using Insurance to Pay for EI Services
Difference between self-funded and fully insured plans:
- Fully-insured plan—employer purchases insurance from an insurance company. The insurance company assumes the risk of providing health coverage for insured events.
- Self-funded plan—employer provides health benefits directly to employees and pays the claims as they occur. The insurance company administers the plan and processes claims. The employer assumes the risk of providing health coverage for insured events.
Non-employer self-funded and self-funded plans are covered in the following sections of Section 4 of SC Online training:
Insurance Benefit Verification (BV)
Insurance Waivers
Insurance Exemptions
- Insurance Exemptions Overview (pdf) - defines an exemption, lists reasons for exemptions, and outlines process, timelines, and impacts for exemptions.
Health Saving Accounts (HSA)
Family Fee
Documentation