Insurance assistant vs claims clerk

The differences between insurance assistants and claims clerks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an insurance assistant and a claims clerk. Additionally, an insurance assistant has an average salary of $35,308, which is higher than the $32,815 average annual salary of a claims clerk.

The top three skills for an insurance assistant include endorsements, data entry and customer service. The most important skills for a claims clerk are data entry, customer service, and clerical support.

Insurance assistant vs claims clerk overview

	Insurance Assistant	Claims Clerk
Yearly salary	$35,308	$32,815
Hourly rate	$16.98	$15.78
Growth rate	-3%	-3%
Number of jobs	34,579	78,588
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 45%	Bachelor's Degree, 31%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	4	4

What does an insurance assistant do?

Insurance assistants work alongside insurance agents to gather information from clients, maintain insurance records, prepare documentation, handle mail and correspondence, calculate insurance premiums and awards, and recommend claim actions. Qualifications like good communication and negotiation skills, customer service orientation, research skills, and attention to detail are required for this position.

What does a claims clerk do?

Claims clerks review the forms and documents for insurance claims to check for missing information and attachments. The data they obtain is entered into their database for safekeeping and quick retrieval. They should know the answers to their clients' questions about the regulations, policies, and procedures covered by their insurance policy. These clerks prepare documents that their agents use to present to their clients. When working for this position, a person must have the ability to communicate well and be familiar with computer applications.

Insurance assistant vs claims clerk salary

Insurance assistants and claims clerks have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Insurance Assistant	Claims Clerk
Average salary	$35,308	$32,815
Salary range	Between $29,000 And $42,000	Between $27,000 And $39,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between insurance assistant and claims clerk education

There are a few differences between an insurance assistant and a claims clerk in terms of educational background:

	Insurance Assistant	Claims Clerk
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 45%	Bachelor's Degree, 31%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Insurance assistant vs claims clerk demographics

Here are the differences between insurance assistants' and claims clerks' demographics:

	Insurance Assistant	Claims Clerk
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 18.8% Female, 81.2%	Male, 17.5% Female, 82.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 13.8% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 3.9% White, 63.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 13.8% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 3.9% White, 63.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between insurance assistant and claims clerk duties and responsibilities

Insurance assistant example responsibilities.

Cold-Cal to generate leads for individual life and disability insurance and annuities.
Analyze Medicaid models, Medicare and HIPAA transaction documents.
Assign ICD-9 and CPT codes to office visit and inpatient and outpatient procedures.
Process electronic claims, pre-existing and subrogation investigation, point of service, and PPO and HMO processing.
Train staff on billing software in regards to CPT codes and pricing, submission procedures, and industry regulations.
Perform verification of Medicare and Medicaid coverage and limits.

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Claims clerk example responsibilities.

Manage adding and removing vendors through claims automate system to ensure they are in compliance with IRS regulations.
File commercial, worker's comp, Medicare, and Medicaid claims to insurance carriers and employers.
Open and sort mail by claim types (HCPA UB 92 and T18).
Process medical HMO claims, POS claims, PPO claims and fee for service claims.
Review, scan, and file HCFA forms
Audit paper claims for accuracy in CPT and ICD9 codes.

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Insurance assistant vs claims clerk skills

Common insurance assistant skills

Endorsements, 13%
Data Entry, 10%
Customer Service, 9%
Insurance Policies, 8%
Photocopying, 5%
Loss Runs, 4%

Common claims clerk skills

Data Entry, 26%
Customer Service, 9%
Clerical Support, 7%
Computer System, 5%
Medical Claims, 4%
Process Claims, 4%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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