Enrollment at Blue Bird Day

Here are the key people you will meet during our enrollment process.

1. Office Manager – the Office Manager is responsible for initial contact, arranging clinic tours, confirming enrollment and start date, and will be your in-office advocate for your needs throughout enrollment at Blue Bird Day.

Therapeutic preschool or kindergarten classroom from our Wheaton Illinois location. There are three child-sized tables with chairs, a brightly colored rug with color cube chairs on it, a bookshelf filled with kids books, and a sensory table.

2. Clinic Director – the Clinic Director will provide a personalized tour of our program and facility.

3. Administrative Case Manager – your Administrative Case Manager will provide a personalized verification of benefits, estimate of coverage with payment options, and schedule your child for a play date and team evaluation.  This Administrative Case Manager will manage all of the intake, scheduling, and billing for your child throughout enrollment.

4. Therapy Case Manager – your Therapy Case Manager will complete the play date with your child and will be the team lead for all treatment, recommendations, and clinical communication throughout enrollment. 

Guide to our Enrollment Process

Therapeutic classroom with a big rainbow rug, tables and chairs for children, and a whiteboard. Therapeutic preschool or kindergarten classroom from our West Loop Chicago location. There are three child-sized tables with chairs, a brightly colored rug, a whiteboard with markers, child-sized cube seats in many colors, a child sized couch, a puppet station, and a wall filled with windows.

STEP 1: Complete the registration form and speak to our Office Manager.

STEP 2: Access your personal client portal to upload a copy of insurance card in order to receive your personal benefit verification. (See our Guide to Healthcare Coverage for more information on insurance).

STEP 3: Schedule and complete a tour with our Clinic Director, where you’ll review our tour packet and financial information.

STEP 4: Receive an estimated cost breakdown of patient responsibility for the program and payment options from your Administrative Case Manager.

STEP 5: Schedule and complete a play date with you, your child, and a Therapy Case Manager.

STEP 6: Receive a personalized cost breakdown, a financial enrollment form, and a tentative start date from our Office Manager.

STEP 7: Complete the enrollment packet (assistance is available from your Administrative Case Manager, if needed).

STEP 8: Upload all past evaluations and medical documents, ie. Asthma/allergy action plans, medication consent to your CentralReach portal (assistance is available from your Administrative Case Manager, if needed).

STEP 9: Schedule and complete Multi-Disciplinary Team Evaluation scheduled by your Administrative Case Manager.

STEP 10: Receive individualized schedule and confirmed start date from your Administrative Case Manager and Office Manager.

STEP 11: Start Blue Bird Day Program.

STEP 12: Schedule and complete Individualized Intensive Therapy Service Plan (IITSP) Meeting with team, scheduled by your Administrative Case Manager.

Now you can watch your child grow!

Guide to CentralReach Client Portal

CentralReach Login & Password Reset Tutorial

CentralReach Intake Paperwork Tutorial

CentralReach Calendar, Notifications, and Billing Tutorial

Cost Breakdown Benefits

As an intensive therapeutic program, your child receives multiple therapies per day. Due to the intensity of services billed, our clients tend to meet the out-of-pocket maximum (OOP max) of their insurance plan within 2-4 months of starting our program.  

To help ease any financial burden of paying the full OOP max for our families, we offer a medical expense payment plan. With this payment plan, Blue Bird is able to provide financial options to our families that allow them to pay their out-of-pocket maximum in monthly installments over the course of the calendar year.  

Our office managers at each location work closely with the billing department to ensure that we have the most accurate information from your insurance policy to provide the best possible estimate for your child’s annual expenses while at Blue Bird Day.  

To calculate your monthly medical expense payments, we take the total amount of your child’s OOP max and divide it by the number of months remaining in the calendar year. Most policies have both individual and family level OOP maximums. Your child will only reach the individual level OOP max and that is the figure used for our payment plans. 

What if my child starts at the beginning of the spring, summer, or fall session?  

If your child starts at the beginning of our spring session, the office manager will present you with a medical expense payment plan spanning 11 months.  

If your child starts at the beginning of our summer session, the office manager will present you with a medical expense payment plan spanning 5 months 

If your child starts at the beginning of our fall session, the office manager will present you with a medical expense payment plan spanning 3 months.  

If your child starts the program outside of the above times, the out of pocket will be divided by the total number of months remaining in the calendar year.  

Example:  

A BCBS PPO Plan with an individual maximum OOP of $8,000 per calendar year.

Start Of Program: Monthly Cost Towards Medical Services:  
January (11 months) $727.27 
July (5 months)   $1600 
September (3 months) $2,666.67 

How do I sign up?  

For new clients during the enrollment process, the office manager will send over various documents for review including a medical expense payment plan. The payment plan form will contain information our billing department obtained from your insurance company regarding your expected deductible and out-of-pocket maximum. For current clients, new medical expense payment plans will be provided at the beginning of the year or if your child’s insurance changes throughout the calendar year.  

What if I’d like to opt out?  

If you would like to opt out of the medical expense payment plan, you can select the “pay by invoice” option on the payment plan document. You will be expected to pay any medical expenses due from insurance within 30 days of invoicing. 

What if we leave the program in the middle of the year?  

Your child’s out-of-pocket maximum (OOP max) is met within the first 2-4 months of services. Due to Blue Bird Day extending the OOP max into monthly payment installments over the course of the calendar year, any remaining balance can be settled by paying the remaining amount due in full or by continuing your medical expense plan each month for the remainder of the year. 

What if I meet some of my out of pocket maximum with another provider, or my family out of pocket maximum is met first? 

Blue Bird Day’s medical expense payment plan is based on our estimate when you join the program and/or the start of the new calendar year. We can only charge you for claims processed by your insurance plan first. If a portion of your child’s individual or your family out-of-pocket maximum is met through another provider, your medical expense payment plan may end earlier in the year once all claims are paid up.