Meet Emily Bernstein, BCPA, CHW

When healthcare gets complicated, most people do not need more paperwork. They need someone who can explain what is happening, what their options are, and what to do next.

That is the work Emily Bernstein does every day. Emily is a Board Certified Patient Advocate and Certified Community Health Worker who helps Umbra clients handle the hardest parts of the system. She takes on insurance questions, medical bills, coverage changes, and care transitions so families can focus on getting well.

Over her career, Emily has eliminated nearly $2 million in medical debt for the people she serves. She has also helped clients secure authorizations, equipment, and insurance coverage they were told they could not get.

Why Emily Bernstein Became a Patient Advocate

In 2019, Emily’s mother was diagnosed with a rare brain cancer. As her family moved through treatment, Emily saw a gap in the system. Doctors handled the medicine. No one handled everything else.

Someone had to track the bills, fight the denials, sort out the coverage, and keep the paperwork moving. That work fell to the family, at the exact moment they had the least energy for it.

Emily decided to become the person who does that job for other families. She earned her certificate in patient advocacy from UCLA, became board certified, and trained as a community health worker. Today she carries the load that used to sit on the shoulders of clients and caregivers.

Her work reaches beyond individual cases. Emily has secured funding from the Rhode Island Department of Human Services and the Rhode Island Department of Health to build new ways to support her community. She serves as a Commissioner on the Rhode Island State Commission on Health Equity. She has consulted for organizations including Brown University Medical School and a number of health technology startups, and she has been interviewed on podcasts around the world.

How Emily Bernstein Helps Clients

Emily works with Umbra clients on the situations that cause the most stress and the most cost. Her focus is insurance, billing, and the research that helps families make good decisions.

Insurance and Billing Problems

Emily untangles complicated coverage and billing situations. That includes Medicaid questions and appeals, retroactive coverage issues, hospital and rehab bills, out-of-network provider charges, and disputes over which payer should have covered the care.

In one case, a family faced a stack of hospital and rehab bills after a stroke, along with conflicting information about when Medicaid coverage started. Emily helped them understand which bills should have been covered, how retroactive Medicaid applied, and what to do next.

This work takes close attention to billing codes, policy timelines, and payer rules. It also takes patience with families who are still recovering from a health crisis.

Denials and Appeals

Emily helps Umbra clients respond when a claim is denied. Her cases include long-term care insurance denials, disputes over medical necessity, and charges that families were not sure they could challenge.

One family came to Umbra after a long-term care insurer denied coverage for a facility stay. Another client faced a large bill after surgery because the insurer called the procedure experimental, even though the client’s care team considered it medically necessary. In both cases the first step was the same. Emily reviewed the records, explained what could be disputed, and laid out the next move.

Planning Before the Bills Arrive

Not every case starts with a denial. Emily also helps clients get answers before care happens, when there is still time to change course.

One family reached out while preparing for a costly specialist visit for a rare autoimmune condition. They worried about out-of-network charges and unclear coverage. Emily helped them look at specialist access, likely costs, and whether a gap exception was possible.

This kind of planning helps clients avoid surprise bills and walk into care with more confidence.

Ongoing Claims Support

Some families need steady help rather than a single answer. Emily supports Umbra clients with repeat claim submissions, old claims that never got resolved, and the monthly follow-up calls to insurers and providers.

One client needed ongoing help with out-of-network mental health claims for several family members. Another had claims left over from a previous insurer that no one had ever closed out. Emily handles the routine administrative work that wears families down.

She also reviews bills for errors, checks whether charges match the level of care a client actually received, and researches Medicare Advantage coverage so clients can compare their options.

Work With Emily Bernstein

Emily is based in Providence, Rhode Island. She works with clients across the United States by phone and video, with a special focus on New England. She speaks English and French.

Emily may be a good fit if you need help with:

• health insurance claims and appeals
• Medicaid questions, including retroactive coverage
• hospital, rehab, and post-surgical bills
• long-term care insurance denials
• out-of-network provider and reimbursement questions
• medical debt and disputed balances
• ongoing monthly claims follow-up
• care decisions that need research and organization

If you are stuck on a bill, a denial, or a coverage question and you are not sure what to do next, Emily can help you find the answer. She accepts Medicare or private pay for her services.

Get started at umbrahealthadvocacy.com/get-started or call 332-699-6778.