Patient dental benefits can appear daunting and not understanding ones coverage is often times reason for concern. The staff at Jourdain Dental Care is here to help with any questions you may have and to help decipher your individual benefits policy.
It is the individual benefit policy holder’s responsibility to communicate with their respective insurance provider. Due to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIP Act), we are no longer able to communicate with you insurance company on your behalf. Should you require information on recall intervals, specific coverage of treatment, or to make account information changes you will need to contact your insurance provider directly. If you require any clarification on what questions to ask, we are able to provide you with treatment codes and guidance in order to receive timely responses regarding your coverage.
Do you direct bill to my insurance company?
As a courtesy to our patients, we at Jourdain Dental Care are willing to file your dental claim on your behalf (direct billing), and may accept direct payment from most insurance companies. We will estimate your deductible and the portion not covered by your insurance, which is due at the time of treatment.
In order to accept assignment from your insurance carrier, it is the policy of the office to maintain a valid credit card on file at all times. This information will be kept securely on our computer system and will require password authentication in order to access. So that we may keep our costs as low as possible, we ask that your insurance co-payment portion be paid at the end of each visit, unless alternative arrangements have been made prior to your visit. If the co-payment amount is not known at the time of your visit, once the payment has been received from the insurance carrier charges under $300 will be directly billed to your credit card and a receipt will be forwarded to you.
Will their be additional costs above what insurance allows?
You may find that our fees may be different from the insurance company’s schedule of “allowable” fees, which are arbitrarily set by the individual insurance companies, and may result in a difference in the amount covered by your insurance plan. All services rendered are charged directly to the patient, and the patient is ultimately responsible for the account regardless of insurance coverage. Any insurance claims denied or remaining unpaid after 60 days will automatically become the responsibility of the patient.
Is there anything you need from me as a patient?
At your initial appointment, we require a copy of your dental benefits card in order to record all required policy and member numbers. Should you add or drop an insurance plan we do require notice to avoid false billings and denied claims. In addition, if you have added a secondary or tertiary insurance policy we require the new information as well to avoid unnecessary cost incurred to the patient, that would otherwise be covered by another policy.
Please notify us if you have a health spending account as we can provide the proper paperwork required for submission. All portions of your treatment costs not covered by an insurance policy or a health spending account can be submitted with your annual tax submission.