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The differences between insurance verifiers and authorization specialists 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 verifier and an authorization specialist. Additionally, an authorization specialist has an average salary of $36,518, which is higher than the $33,450 average annual salary of an insurance verifier.
The top three skills for an insurance verifier include patients, insurance verification and medical terminology. The most important skills for an authorization specialist are patients, customer service, and insurance verification.
| Insurance Verifier | Authorization Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $33,450 | $36,518 |
| Hourly rate | $16.08 | $17.56 |
| Growth rate | -3% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 84,023 | 71,831 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 25% | Bachelor's Degree, 33% |
| Average age | 44 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
An insurance verifier specializes in dealing with the billing process and patient claims. As the process begins, insurance verifiers look into patient insurance information and verify treatments that their policies cover. They call the insurance companies and send proper documentation to verify pre-approval for the required procedure. Eventually, the insurance verifiers work with insurance companies to bill them for the procedure. Their tasks may also include communicating with patients about benefits, coverage, and care authorization, and liaising with patients and providers to communicate their needs and current state.
An authorization specialist is responsible for reviewing insurance claims and determining the necessary settlement for the clients and involved parties. Authorization specialists file documents and gather the required information for further investigation and analysis. They coordinate with the insurance agency and the medical institution and ensure that the correct communications are being sent out for reference. An authorization specialist must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in writing authorization requests and resolve claims timely and efficiently.
Insurance verifiers and authorization specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Insurance Verifier | Authorization Specialist | |
| Average salary | $33,450 | $36,518 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $40,000 | Between $28,000 And $47,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Milford, MA |
| Highest paying state | - | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | - | Guidehouse |
| Best paying industry | - | Health Care |
There are a few differences between an insurance verifier and an authorization specialist in terms of educational background:
| Insurance Verifier | Authorization Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 25% | Bachelor's Degree, 33% |
| Most common major | Health Care Administration | Business |
| Most common college | - | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between insurance verifiers' and authorization specialists' demographics:
| Insurance Verifier | Authorization Specialist | |
| Average age | 44 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 10.5% Female, 89.5% | Male, 15.4% Female, 84.6% |
| 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, 10.8% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 22.6% Asian, 6.9% White, 53.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 7% |