Billing FAQ

In response to community feedback, St. Peter’s Health recently updated our statements to show summary-level information. However, a detailed list of all outstanding charges can be obtained by calling 406-447-2828.

Yes, please call 406-447-2828 to obtain a detailed list of charges.

Yes. Patients can pay using the St. Peter's Health Payment Portal. The portal is available online at pay.sphealth.org/. Patients can set up a Payment Portal account and log in to view their current balance and make a payment on a specific bill using their account and series bill numbers.

Yes. We recently have improved the Payment Portal to enhance user experience and make it easier for patients to make payments:

• Pay bills across multiple accounts. You can now pay bills across multiple accounts in a single process.
• Set up automatic payments.
• Receive text or email notifications when a new charge is posted to your account.

Over the past year we have reduced the time from when a patient receives care to when they receive their bill in the mail on average. The current average is 47 days, which is the same as and even lower than comparable Montana hospitals. We hope that more and more patients begin to see their bills sooner.

However, we understand some patients are still seeing their bills months after they received care. This is often the case for those who had inpatient stays at St. Peter's or complex procedures and care, due to insurance processing delays.

Please contact us at 406-447-2828 with your name, date of birth, and date of service.

Yes, we would be happy to provide you with an estimate for an upcoming procedure. Please visit our Charges and Cost Estimator page or contact 406-447-2828 and be prepared to provide the CPT for the procedure in question. If you do not know the CPT code, please ask your provider.

St. Peter’s Health provides financial assistance to those who qualify. For more information on Financial Assistance and to download an application, please visit our Financial Assistance Page (sphealth.org/patient-assistance) or call 406-447-2828 to speak with one of our financial counselors.

For those who do not qualify or are not interested in financial assistance, St. Peter’s Health has many flexible, zero interest, payment options to help you with your current balance. Please contact us at 406-447-2828 to learn about your options.

Unfortunately, insurance doesn’t cover everything. (Trust us, we wish it did.) Most insurance programs, for example, cover yearly mammograms. But “yearly” is a very specific term. Mammograms have to be performed a full 365 days apart. If you had your mammogram on day 364, most insurance won’t cover it. Many procedures have very specific criteria like this. How do you avoid this? See the next topic.

Before seeking a test or procedure, always contact your insurance company to make sure your procedure is covered under your plan. This is the patient’s duty. PET scans, CT scans, MRIs, therapies, some medications, infusions, sleep studies, and other scheduled procedures usually require preauthorization from your insurance company or else the patient may be responsible for the bill.

If you find that insurance won’t cover your procedure -- or if you don’t have insurance -- and you are concerned about how to pay for your procedure, call our Patient Counselors at 406-447-2828 to see if you may qualify for financial assistance.

Yes, St. Peter’s will bill third-party insurance companies as long as we receive all necessary insurance information. If you would like us to bill another insurance outside of your normal medical insurance, please provide this information when you present for the visit.

You will need to inform the front desk staff prior to each visit which insurance you would like us to bill.

If a patient doesn’t pay their bill within 30 days, we will send monthly reminders. Sometimes your payment and the reminder get crossed in the mail. If you receive the reminder and it’s been within 10 days of when you sent your payment, you needn’t worry. Your payment probably hadn’t been posted by the time the reminder was sent. If you sent your payment more than ten days before you received the reminder, please call 406-447-2828 to check the status of your payment.

Paying online will decrease the chance of reminders being sent after you’ve made a payment.

Payment is due within 30 days or receiving your first statement. If you cannot pay your bill or would like to set up a payment plan, you can contact our financial counselors in Helena at 447-2828 or meet with a counselor between 8:00am and 5:00pm Monday through Friday at the Regional Medical Center. Meetings with financial counselors can be set up by visiting the front desk.

If you are expecting a bill that doesn’t arrive or you learn that a bill was sent to the wrong address, call 406-447-2828 to have your address corrected in our system.

Please note that bills go to the guarantor on a patient’s account. The guarantor is the person responsible for paying for a patient's bill. For adults, this is usually the patient themselves; for kids, this is usually their parents. If you’re over 18, the bill should come to you even if you're still on your parents’ insurance. However, if you’re wondering why your bill hasn’t arrived, check with your parents; it is possible that it was sent sent to them if we don't have your current address. The same holds true for children of divorced spouses. The bill is sent to the guarantor (the parent or legal guardian who brings the child in for medical care), not necessarily the parent or guardian that pays for the insurance plan.

The act of being sent to collections doesn't necessarily mean your credit will be impacted. Collections is a service we use to assist us in collecting payment for outstanding bills. However, we generally wait an additional 120 days after sending your account to collections to report you to the credit bureau. Additionally, you can still apply for financial assistance up to 240 days after you received the first post discharge bill, and all collections activity will stop while waiting for the outcome of your financial assistance application.

You must call a Financial Counselor at 406-447-2828 to set up an authorized payment plan. You can’t simply send money towards your bill at your own discretion. Call us. Financial Counselors are here to help you. They will work with you to get your bills paid within a plan that fits your financial situation.