AlwaysWrite
Addicted Member
Greed, greed and more greed! Is the following scenario fair or logical? Whether or not, it's true!
I'm just using sample numbers, but regarding insurance, everyone knows that the provider -- in this case, my dentist -- submits charges to the insurance company, say for $200, but the insurance firm says it will only pay $120 -- minus any co-pay or deductible owed -- for services rendered. So the dentist accepts the $120 in what is considered as "provider write-off."
Well, dental insurance, as some of you may already know, is generally a total rip-off. Premiums are costly, and they never pay more than half the cost for such things as crowns, implants and bridges -- and even then, they won't even cover any such costs until after the policy has been in effect for a full year.
After fully reviewing the situation, my wife and I felt that there is no such thing as good dental insurance, so we cancelled our policies and decided to pay as we go.
But here's the absolutely ridiculous part. If a patient has insurance, the dentist will settle for the $120 that the insurance company is willing to pay. But if a patient pays cash, THE DENTIST CHARGES THE FULL $200. Why? Because he can!
It should benefit the dentist's office to simply accept full cash payments rather than "play games" with the insurance companies, filing paperwork and having to wait for payment, etc., but why should a patient willing to pay cash pay the full, inflated amount that the dentist seeks, but never gets from the insurance company?
As I said earlier, it's greed, greed and more greed!
I'm just using sample numbers, but regarding insurance, everyone knows that the provider -- in this case, my dentist -- submits charges to the insurance company, say for $200, but the insurance firm says it will only pay $120 -- minus any co-pay or deductible owed -- for services rendered. So the dentist accepts the $120 in what is considered as "provider write-off."
Well, dental insurance, as some of you may already know, is generally a total rip-off. Premiums are costly, and they never pay more than half the cost for such things as crowns, implants and bridges -- and even then, they won't even cover any such costs until after the policy has been in effect for a full year.
After fully reviewing the situation, my wife and I felt that there is no such thing as good dental insurance, so we cancelled our policies and decided to pay as we go.
But here's the absolutely ridiculous part. If a patient has insurance, the dentist will settle for the $120 that the insurance company is willing to pay. But if a patient pays cash, THE DENTIST CHARGES THE FULL $200. Why? Because he can!
It should benefit the dentist's office to simply accept full cash payments rather than "play games" with the insurance companies, filing paperwork and having to wait for payment, etc., but why should a patient willing to pay cash pay the full, inflated amount that the dentist seeks, but never gets from the insurance company?
As I said earlier, it's greed, greed and more greed!