September 14, 2009
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Interest Charges on Medical Bills?
WTF! I just got my statement from my dentist and it has a finance charge of $13.50. I got a crown done, paid the estimated patient portion in full and the balance was submitted to insurance for billing. The work was done 8/20, the summary statement is as of 8/30.
Does your doctor or dentist charge interest on outstanding amounts that are pending insurance approval? This better be a mistake because I’m beyond pissed. My dentist’s office has gone through a lot of turnover the past two years (the retiring dentist handed the practice off to the younger partner dentist) and I’m wondering if they are also changing the billing procedures. The dentist also dropped himself from being in-network providers for most dental insurance providers this year (Delta, Guardian, Blue Cross, etc.).
1.5% of finance charges for 10 days comes out to 4.5% for the month. 4.5% x 12 months is 54% for the year! Even if it’s only supposed to be 1.5% x 12 months, that’s 18% for the year. I don’t carry any balances on my credit cards so 18% is appalling. I didn’t sign up to do payment plan financing option for my work. I paid the 40%-50% patient portion in full. This reeks of non-disclosure.
I go in to get the crown cemented today. I will also be bringing a copy of the statement for inquiry. If this is not an error, then this dentist is stupid because I’ll gladly take my future business elsewhere. A few months ago I got a bill $2.00 for outstanding charges that insurance didn’t cover for a cleaning. Don’t most doctor’s offices write off small amounts? It’s not like he’s going to send me a refund if I overpaid my initial estimate by $5. It is stupid to nickel and dime your regular patients because they’ll leave you and you’ll lose thousands in potential earnings over the years.
- Does your doctor charge interest?
- What is the benefit of doctors leaving the network? Is this because they get to charge more for their services, or is it more so that they aren’t restricted and restrained by paperwork on vital claims that are denied by network insurance groups?
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Comments (4)
I honestly dislike dentists/orthodontists. I hear Best Western Dental sucks too, so it’s not like you can find better service through them!
I’ve been going to my childhood dentist FOREVER. She’s not even good (she’s a half-ass) and she claims the max benefits. My lil bro currently volunteers for them and he notices how shady they are (haha). One time, she was cleaning my teeth and she decided to give me a “tooth filling”! I don’t know if she really did (I don’t remember the drilling part either– shouldn’t it be painful without anesthesia? I wasn’t even numb). I always sign papers and I have no idea what I’m signing.. and I tell my mom I’m going to find a better dentist elsewhere! My orthodontist was pretty bad too. He couldn’t even practice universal precautions. He used to touch my mouth with his bare hands!! When I start getting health/dental benefits, I’m going to tell my dentist “peace out”.
@JennY71887 -
OH MAN, and my orthodontist would hire my high school classmates to fix my rubberbands. Dude, they have no certification whatsoever. I want to yelp this, but I’m scared of libel charges. Haha.
@JennY71887 - I guess I overreacted, the dental office said they accidental ran interest/finance charges on all accounts and they had already removed my charge. I don’t think this dentist is dishonest, I just think he’s now trying to do more upsells in general… promoting cosmetic stuff. I think that’s why some of the long time staff left after the office changed hands, because they didn’t want to have to upsell.
MD’s don’t charge interest. They leave HMO’s because of the paperwork and hassle to go through them. I suspect it’s worse that everyone’s plan is different. Insurance companies must approve claims; there’s a delay on approval for the provider’s payment.