Medical Biller/Insurance Specialist

 

Types of Degrees Medical Biller/Insurance Specialist Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many medical insurance specialist/medical biller graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Undergraduate Certificate	4,474
Associate Degree	3,426
Basic Certificate	1,098
Bachelor’s Degree	6

What Medical Biller/Insurance Specialist Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, medical insurance specialist/medical biller majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Medical Insurance Specialist/Medical Biller Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in medical insurance specialist/medical biller should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Skills for Medical Insurance Specialist/Medical Biller Majors

A major in medical insurance specialist/medical biller prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Abilities for Medical Insurance Specialist/Medical Biller Majors

As you progress with your medical insurance specialist/medical biller degree, there are several abilities you should pick up that will help you in whatever related career you choose. These abilities include:

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

What Can You Do With a Medical Biller/Insurance Specialist Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with medical insurance specialist/medical biller:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Medical Secretaries	22.5%	$35,760

Who Is Getting an Associate’s Degree in Medical Biller/Insurance Specialist?

This major is dominated by women with about 97% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of medical insurance specialist/medical biller majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	36
Black or African American	1,370
Hispanic or Latino	416
White	1,376
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	228

How Much Do Medical Biller/Insurance Specialist Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Medical Insurance Specialist/Medical Biller majors often go into careers with median salaries of $37,090. This median refers to all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Medical Biller/Insurance Specialist

Some degrees associated with medical insurance specialist/medical biller may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

Find out what the typical degree level is for medical insurance specialist/medical biller careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	37.0%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	19.7%
Some College Courses	41.3%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	2.0%

Online Medical Biller/Insurance Specialist Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	199	25
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	27	8
Bachelor’s Degree	0	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	1	0
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Medical Biller/Insurance Specialist Worth It?

The median salary for a medical insurance specialist/medical biller grad is $37,090 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

Trades Related to Medical Biller/Insurance Specialist

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to medical insurance specialist/medical biller.

Major	Number of Grads
Health Care Management	30,702
Medical Insurance Coding Specialist/Coder	10,541
Health Information/Medical Records Technology/Technician	10,010
Medical Administrative/Executive Assistant & Medical Secretary	7,581
Medical Office Assistant/Specialist	4,981
Hospital & Health Care Facilities Administration/Management	3,981
Medical Office Management/Administration	3,470
Health Information Management	2,942
Other Health & Medical Administrative Services	2,251
Medical/Health Management & Clinical Assistant/Specialist	1,257
Medical Reception/Receptionist	730
Clinical Research Coordinator	291
Long Term Care Administration/Management	221
Healthcare Innovation	193
Medical Office Computer Specialist/Assistant	118
Health Unit Coordinator/Ward Clerk	109
Medical Transcription/Transcriptionist	83
Regulatory Science/Affairs	73
Medical Staff Services Technology/Technician	25
Disease Registry Data Management	15
Health Unit Manager/Ward Supervisor	11
Healthcare Information Privacy Assurance and Security	7
Health/Medical Claims Examiner	4

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.