Insurance collector vs billing representative

The differences between insurance collectors and billing representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become an insurance collector, becoming a billing representative takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, an insurance collector has an average salary of $39,463, which is higher than the $35,002 average annual salary of a billing representative.

The top three skills for an insurance collector include patients, medical billing and healthcare. The most important skills for a billing representative are patients, customer service, and data entry.

Insurance collector vs billing representative overview

	Insurance Collector	Billing Representative
Yearly salary	$39,463	$35,002
Hourly rate	$18.97	$16.83
Growth rate	-8%	-3%
Number of jobs	46,897	95,425
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 29%	Bachelor's Degree, 30%
Average age	46	46
Years of experience	12	2

What does an insurance collector do?

An insurance collector is responsible for collecting and managing insurance payments. They need to generate funds through collecting bills, adhere to ethical standards, handle patients' claims, and complete other clerical work. They usually prepare and submit a member's bill for insurance so that the patient can be sure that there will be no delay in getting their claim.

What does a billing representative do?

A billing representative assists with the overall operations of the organization's billing department. Billing representatives post payments timely on the database, update account statements, generate financial reports, release invoices, and resolve account discrepancies. They also perform client accounts reconciliation as needed, monitor account receivables, review overdated balance, and notify clients of payment updates to ensure accurate and timely billing. A billing representative must have strong analytical and communication skills to manage clients' accounts, as well as comprehensive knowledge on the accounting industry to explain the payment terms and policies of an organization to a client.

Insurance collector vs billing representative salary

Insurance collectors and billing representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Insurance Collector	Billing Representative
Average salary	$39,463	$35,002
Salary range	Between $33,000 And $46,000	Between $28,000 And $42,000
Highest paying City	-	Worcester, MA
Highest paying state	-	Massachusetts
Best paying company	-	Relevante
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between insurance collector and billing representative education

There are a few differences between an insurance collector and a billing representative in terms of educational background:

	Insurance Collector	Billing Representative
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 29%	Bachelor's Degree, 30%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	Stanford University

Insurance collector vs billing representative demographics

Here are the differences between insurance collectors' and billing representatives' demographics:

	Insurance Collector	Billing Representative
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 12.4% Female, 87.6%	Male, 15.7% Female, 84.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 13.4% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 22.6% Asian, 3.3% White, 56.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 10.4% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 19.9% Asian, 7.3% White, 57.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage	8%	7%

Differences between insurance collector and billing representative duties and responsibilities

Insurance collector example responsibilities.

Verify accuracy of claims, work EOB's for all insurance company types, identify and solve problems with unpaid claims.
Handle workers' comp., HMO, PPO correspondence.
Identify incorrect charges base on proper CPT coding and payment methodologies.
Utilize ICD9 and CPT code medical directories for billing purposes to get paid on claims.
Perform necessary task to have commercial and workers comp EOB's reprocess to receive the correct total reimbursement.
Download weekly Florida Medicaid remittance amounts and send to management.

Billing representative example responsibilities.

Manage software programs for MSP accounts, monthly billing and EMC file transfers to Medicare.
Accept and process healthcare claims and confidential medical records; verify patient eligibility and manage the Medicare and Medicaid billing process.
Process orders in compliance with Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance verification guidelines; confirming customer's eligibility and insurance coverage.
Verify insurance eligibility for schedule appointments, and verify cash pricing for private pay patients who request cost by CPT code.
Submit and receive Medicare and Medicaid claims electronically on a daily basis.
Utilize extensive computer skills and coding knowledge to produce and submit physical therapy and occupational therapy claims through medicaid and medicare.

Insurance collector vs billing representative skills

Common insurance collector skills

Patients, 20%
Medical Billing, 8%
Healthcare, 7%
Medicaid, 5%
Appeals, 5%
Insurance Accounts, 4%

Common billing representative skills

Patients, 18%
Customer Service, 13%
Data Entry, 6%
Medical Billing, 5%
Medicaid, 5%
Patient Accounts, 4%

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Insurance Collector
Insurance Collector vs Billing Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

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