PAYMENTS AND BILLING
If you have dental insurance, your portion of the payment is due at the time of service. If your dental treatments require extensive service, you may make special arrangements with the front office staff. We accept MasterCard, Visa and Discover. You can call in payments on your credit card directly to our office at no charge.
Expect any outstanding amounts owed to be reflected in a statement from our billing company, First Pacific Corporation in Salem, Oregon. This includes amounts that you expect your insurance to cover. To keep you informed of the status of your account, you will receive a notice until the insurance has paid and the account is at a zero balance. The cut-off for billing from First Pacific is the 20th of the month. Any payments received after the date will incur late payment fees and will not appear on your statement until the following month.
Your treatment plan will include a breakdown of all applicable fees, and we will inform you of all costs before treatment is administered. In the absence of dental insurance, charges are payable at the time of treatment unless other arrangements have been made.
INSURANCE
As a courtesy, in addition to filing your insurance claim, we will initially ask you only for your estimated co-payment. Please understand that this is only an estimate and is based upon the information available to us. Any adjustments that need to be made will be reflected in your billing after the insurance has paid. Since we cannot speak for the insurance companies, our estimate is just that, a close estimate. We are not responsible for when or how much your insurance company pays, since the contract is between your employer and the insurance company. Any questions as to why the insurance company has denied coverage or if they didn’t pay as much as you expected should be handled directly with your insurance company or human resources at your place of employment.
We will fully attempt to help you maximize your insurance benefits; however, you are personally responsible for your account, and we encourage you to contact us if your insurance company has not paid within 60 days. The range of your benefits depends solely on the decisions of your employer. Some plans cover as little as 30 percent or as much as 100 percent of certain dental services, with most falling in the 50 to 80 percent range.
While we anticipate waiting for the insurance portion of the fee, the patient portion is expected at each visit with check, cash or credit card. We accept MasterCard, Visa and Discover. We work in cooperation with any insurance plan that allows the patient to choose his or her own dentist. In addition, we are preferred providers for:
- Guardian
- MetLife
- United Concordia
- Delta Dental
- Humana
- Blue Cross/Blue Shield
- Connection Dental
- Secure Care
- Mercy Care (for patients under 21 years of age)
A WORD TO THE WISE
Keep in mind that your insurance company does not care about your dental health. Your insurance company’s role is to make a profit for their investors. Dr. Martin’s decisions regarding your treatment are focused entirely on what is best for you and your health. While we want to make your dental care affordable, we also resist being controlled by the restrictions of insurance companies. Think about how many things you do that are not covered by insurance…oil and lube your car, have your carpets cleaned, have your hair cut, for instance. Certainly your decisions about your own health should be of paramount importance to you, regardless of the policies of an insurance company.
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