Faraz Ather, 8 September 2026, 3 min read
The question comes up on almost every healthcare call: what should a remote medical biller cost? The honest answer is that the salary is the smallest part of the number you will pay, and most quotes hide the rest.
The salary is not the price
An offshore biller earns a fraction of a US biller's wage. That gap is real, and it is why offshore revenue cycle work exists. But a working seat needs more than a salary. Someone has to recruit the person, train them on HIPAA, sign a business associate agreement, onboard them to your EMR and clearinghouse, audit their claims, run payroll, handle HR, supply equipment and cover the desk when they are sick. Each item is small. Together they can be half the price.
What the market charges
Published figures spread widely, because the seats are not the same seat.
- A managed offshore biller or RCM full-time equivalent runs from about $600 a month at the low end to $1,600 to $4,500 a month for a supervised seat with quality control, according to Infohub Consultancy and Vinali Group.
- Medical virtual assistants from Philippine providers are priced by the hour. Hello Rache lists $9.50 an hour, which is about $1,650 a month on a 40-hour week, and managed packages in that market run $1,900 to $2,400 a month.
- Add-ons matter. Two Philippine outsourcing cost guides, Gigabpo and CallForce, put loaded support seats at $8 to $15 an hour and warn that hidden fees add 10 to 20% to the headline rate.
So the cheap number usually excludes the things that make the seat work, and the expensive number often includes an account layer you did not ask for.
What a seat price should include
Before comparing quotes, ask for these seven items in writing:
- Recruiting the person, and replacing them if it does not work out.
- HIPAA training and a signed business associate agreement.
- Onboarding to your EMR, practice management system and clearinghouse.
- Quality audits on claims, with results you can see.
- HR administration, so contracts, leave and check-ins are handled for you.
- Backup coverage for leave and sickness.
- No setup fee, and no separate charge for tools.
A quote that lists all seven is comparable. A quote that lists two is a salary plus a margin.
Where the AtherTalent seat lands
Our healthcare staff seat is $1,200 per seat per month. It covers medical billers, AR and denial specialists, prior-authorization coordinators and virtual medical assistants. Inside the number: recruiting and replacement, HR administration, backup coverage, and no setup or tool fees. Compliance training, a business associate agreement, system onboarding and quality audits are not in the seat price. On a 40-hour week that is just under $7 an hour.
Terms: a 3-month minimum, free replacement at any time during the term, no setup fees and no hidden tool fees. Three or more seats and the per-seat price drops.
Why it sits below the $1,600 to $4,500 band: the firm runs offshore, the founder does the recruiting himself, and there is no office lease or account-management layer to recover through the fee. What it does not cover: RCM managers and directors, which we place on commission at 10 to 12% of salary rather than on a seat.
Full seat details are on the offshore teams page, and every price is on the pricing page.