Wages For Medical Assistants

Summary: The wages for medical assistants depends on the level of skills, experience, and location.

The employment rate in the health care industry is continuously rising due to the growing and aging population, technological advances, and the increased interest in health care occupations. Employment growth will be driven by the increases in the number of group practices, clinics, and other health care facilities that need a high proportion of support personnel, most particularly the flexible medical assistants. Medical assisting is found to be a very challenging job and interesting job for those who enjoy working with people, work in a medical office, and make a difference in their community.

Medical assistants perform many administrative duties, may include answering phones, greeting patients, updating and filing patient's medical records, filling out insurance forms, handling correspondence, scheduling appointments, arranging for hospital admission and laboratory services, handling billing, and bookkeeping. But, these duties may vary from office to office, depending on the location and size of the practice and practitioner's specialty. But the question is, are the wages of medical assistants worth the duties they perform.

When it comes to earnings, the wages for medical assistants differ, depending on their experience, level of skills, and location. As indicated to salary range survey, the monthly wages of medical assistants who are new in their professions range from $ 1,600 to $ 1,760 net per month. After two years of experience, the average monthly salaries range from $ 1,900 to $ 2, 200 monthly net, mostly depending on where you live and what type of medical office you are working with. Specialists tend to pay more than general family physicians.

Aside from the wages for medical assistants, there are also other benefits that might be useful to you aside from cash, like fringe benefits. These benefits may also be offered, such as
o Health plan or vision plan
o Dental insurance
o Discounts
o Paid vacation/sick leave
o Long-term disability
o Pension/retirement plan
o 401K matching
o free continuing education
o tuition reimbursement

When you look for work and you are offered a job with a lower pay compared to others, but offers very attractive fringe benefits, you might want to consider it. Fringe benefits are valuable services or privileges provided to an employee by an employer on top of your salary. They are also considered as compensation in lieu to cash. And besides, your pay, which is in cash, can be spent in just a few days and it's gone, but the benefits will be useful in the long run. For example, the pension or retirement plan is something that you might not be able to use at present time, but will be very useful in the future.