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This is somewhat like medical visits too, insurance for the most part pays the most and patient pays the copays...when I have a copay that high I call the billing dept and pay it in two payments. That is good with them. For patients who go to MD's that don't take insurance and there are plenty, the patient is asked for payment upfront.
What do you mean don't pay. Because they have insurance of some form? Or they really don't pay. Could you explain just a tad more. You say majority don't pay--- does that mean on time and payments or due to insurance plans.
I mean they don't pay based on the agreed upon terms of the payment plan. Example - they make the first couple of payments on time, but then miss the third and now are not returning calls, etc. I'm not talking about insurance at all.
When I first started out I offered payment plans to virtually everyone so that I could build up my practice and also thought everyone was just like me when it came to financial responsibility. How wrong I was! The sad truth is that a lot of people just suck.
He's talking about people not paying for their dental work at the time it's done, but rather asking the dentist to allow them to pay over time and he's right. My son is an auto mechanic and owns his own shop. When he first started he let a few people pay over time, for the most part they never paid him a dime and the ones who did pay never paid him the full balance. Now, it's all cash or credit card, no checks and no payment plans.
I think that a lot of people don't understand the fixed costs and overhead that go into running a small business - and how many deadbeats there are who think nothing of stiffing you out of money.
I can understand the difficulties encountered by small businesses in trying to collect partial payments for services over time.
I also know there are far too many people who will take advantage under those circumstances and not pay the entire amount of the bill- using every excuse in the world to justify stiffing the business.
That's why most creditors ( ie, mortgage companies, utilities, credit card companies, IRS, etc etc) have late fees, fines for missing payments, garnishment of wages and other penalties for failure to make timely payments, I'd guess this keeps some folks who might be tempted not to pay bills honest, do to speak. But small business providers can't do all that, can only turn the nonpayers debt over to collections agencies, or take them to court, either case will not often get the entire debt paid to the provider.
That said, it might be a consideration ( for those patients who are known to be financially responsible and pay their debts), that such patients might forego needed dental work simply because they can't come up with the entire amount ( involving, say, several thousand to 10-15 thousand for extensive work) at once. In this case, seems to me a dentist might at least offer a plan involving payment of partial amounts as the work is done over a number of visits, and/ or spread the total amount of work over time so the patient can pay over that time.
Our dentist offers a 5% discount for total payment up front, with either cash or check ( not for credit card payments), and will take payments spread out for multi-visit work. I've also seen him not charge for some things that were done under some circumstances.
This is somewhat like medical visits too, insurance for the most part pays the most and patient pays the copays...when I have a copay that high I call the billing dept and pay it in two payments. That is good with them. For patients who go to MD's that don't take insurance and there are plenty, the patient is asked for payment upfront.
Many medical practices, and other healthcare providers that do take insurance collect the co-pay from the patient before he/she sees the doctor or has any procedures done.
I mean they don't pay based on the agreed upon terms of the payment plan. Example - they make the first couple of payments on time, but then miss the third and now are not returning calls, etc. I'm not talking about insurance at all.
When I first started out I offered payment plans to virtually everyone so that I could build up my practice and also thought everyone was just like me when it came to financial responsibility. How wrong I was! The sad truth is that a lot of people just suck.
Oh, thanks for the explanation. I can see how that can happen.
Many medical practices, and other healthcare providers that do take insurance collect the co-pay from the patient before he/she sees the doctor or has any procedures done.
I had that happen with a rheumy I saw some yrs back, she was a one woman office and building her practice and had it figured out what my co pay would be after Medicare paid her. I wrote her a check before she started her work on me.
I have a nice relationshp with my MD and would NOT want to lose her, and she bills me the copay and often pay the whole thing. She's been in practice 20+ yrs so well established.
Last edited by jaminhealth; 11-29-2017 at 04:09 PM..
I had a dentist who gave senior discounts. He was always winning awards for being a humanitarian. But most dentists don't give discounts or let you spread the payments out, not anywhere that I've ever lived. I use Care Credit. The dentist will set it up through CC for either 6 months or one year to pay the bill off. That way I can afford the big costs like crowns or an implant and there is no interest if you pay it off on time.
I had that happen with a rheumy I saw some yrs back, she was a one woman office and building her practice and had it figured out what my co pay would be after Medicare paid her. I wrote her a check before she started her work on me.
I have a nice relationshp with my MD and would NOT want to lose her, and she bills me the copay and often pay the whole thing. She's been in practice 20+ yrs so well established.
I think collecting the copay at the time of the visit is pretty much standard these days for most providers. They determine the amount (if any) of the copay when they verify the patient's insurance coverage and expect it to be paid at the visit. Doing it this way instead of sending out bills ensures the patient will pay the copay ( easier for a patient not inclined to pay to ignore a bill that came in the mail), and it also saves the provider the cost of mailing out bills.
I think if you've gone to a provider for a long time, they know you well and you have a history of paying your bills, they are more likely to work with you, if that means mailing bills for your copays to you, and letting you divide up the payments, whatever will make it easier for you, they will do that.
I think collecting the copay at the time of the visit is pretty much standard these days for most providers. They determine the amount (if any) of the copay when they verify the patient's insurance coverage and expect it to be paid at the visit. Doing it this way instead of sending out bills ensures the patient will pay the copay ( easier for a patient not inclined to pay to ignore a bill that came in the mail), and it also saves the provider the cost of mailing out bills.
I think if you've gone to a provider for a long time, they know you well and you have a history of paying your bills, they are more likely to work with you, if that means mailing bills for your copays to you, and letting you divide up the payments, whatever will make it easier for you, they will do that.
Our dentist bills us, and says we can just pay it the next time we come in (which is usually 3-6 months later, between the two of us combined). We usually pay it within the same month unless it's only $20-50. Then we pay it - plus whatever we owe for the next visit, on the same day as the next visit. We "settle up" in other words.
For expensive stuff like my husband's implants we did have to pay half up front, and the other half when she was done with them.
But our whole family goes to her, including cousins, in-laws, siblings. So she knows we're good for the money. She has a 2-person office, with just her and her assistant. Very low overhead but she uses a lot of high-tech gadgets and instruments. And she's a participating provider with our dental plan.
That said, it might be a consideration ( for those patients who are known to be financially responsible and pay their debts), that such patients might forego needed dental work simply because they can't come up with the entire amount ( involving, say, several thousand to 10-15 thousand for extensive work) at once. In this case, seems to me a dentist might at least offer a plan involving payment of partial amounts as the work is done over a number of visits, and/ or spread the total amount of work over time so the patient can pay over that time.
They do. It's called Care Credit. What you're asking for is a loan. Just like banks, Care Credit is in the business of taking risk for giving loans.
A few years ago, my office started requiring 50% payment to reserve an appointment for anything over $500. Then the rest was due on the day of the procedure. I found that the only people upset about this were those who never intended to pay to begin with.
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