At All Smiles, we are dedicated to ensuring you receive the dental care you deserve. We carefully go over all costs and payment options, ensuring your comfort with the treatment plan and addressing any questions before starting. Rest assured, there will be no surprises when it comes to your bill.
Dental Insurance
When we receive your insurance information during your initial visit, we will then file a claim for you with your dental insurance. However, you must be familiar with your insurance benefits, as we will collect from you the estimated patient portion that your insurance is not expected to pay.
By law, your insurance company is required to pay each claim within 30 days of receipt. Since we do file all insurance claims electronically, your insurance company will receive the claims within days of the treatment.
The patient is responsible for any balance on their account after 30 days, whether insurance has paid for it or not. If you have not paid off your balance within 60 days, a re-billing fee of 1.5% will be added to your account each month until the outstanding balance is paid. We will be more than happy to send a reimbursement to you if your insurance pays us.
Please understand that we file dental insurance claims as a courtesy to our patients. We are not liable for how your insurance company handles its claims or which benefits they do not see fit for payment. We can only help you estimate your portion of the cost of treatment. We cannot guarantee what your insurance will or will not do with each claim. We are also not responsible for any errors in filing your insurance. Once again, we file claims as a courtesy to you.
No Insurance Pays 100% Of All Procedures
Dental insurance is meant to aid in receiving dental care. Many patients assume that their insurance covers or pays 90% and 100% of all dental fees and procedures. This is absolutely not true. Most dental plans will only pay between 33% and 80% of the average total fee of treatment. Some pay more, and some pay less.
The percentage paid is usually determined when you or your employer set up the dental plan and how much you and your employer have paid for coverage. It could also be determined by the type of contract your employer has set up with your insurance company.
Benefits Are Not Determined By Our Office
Sometimes, your dental insurer reimburses you or the dentist at a lower rate than the dentist’s actual fee. Insurance companies state that the reimbursement was reduced because your dentist’s fee has exceeded the usual, customary, or reasonable fee (“UCR”) used by the company.
This statement gives the impression that any fee greater than the amount paid by the company is not reasonable, which is misleading and untrue.
Insurance companies have their own schedules, and each company has its own set of reasonable fees. These fees may vary because each company collects fee information from claims it processes. This data can sometimes be up to five years old, which can net the company 20-30% profit.
Unfortunately, insurance companies create the idea your dentist may be overcharging you rather than saying they are underpaying or that the benefits are low. In summary, the less expensive the benefit plan, the lower (UCR) figure.
Deductibles & Co-Payments Must Be Considered
When estimating dental benefits, deductibles and percentages must be considered. A deductible is an amount the patient is required to pay out of pocket once per year that may attach or be added to the patient’s coinsurance for a procedure.
A typical deductible averages $50. For instance, if a procedure costs $100 and the plan covers 80% of it, the patient is expected to pay the remaining 20% as coinsurance. This amounts to $20 of the $100 service fee. Next, we check if the patient has already met their deductible for the year. If not, the patient must pay the $50 deductible and the $20 coinsurance, totaling $70.
Most importantly, please keep us updated with any insurance changes you may have, such as a policy name, insurance company, or change of employment.
Popular Payment Options
We accept cash, checks, and most major credit cards and work with CareCredit, so you can get the care you need when you need it.
We are in-network with some discount dental plans; please call our office to check which ones are available.
CareCredit
