Insurance and Financing
Insurance Information
We would like to stress that our relationship is with you and not with your insurance carrier. As a courtesy service, we will bill your insurance for you and will send any necessary letters and pre-determinations. If your insurance carrier will send payment directly to our office, and if we can verify your coverage, we will bill your insurance and await payment. You will be asked to pay your estimated co-pay and deductible. You are responsible for any balance remaining after the insurance company has paid the claim. If we do not receive payment from your insurance company within six weeks, for any reason, full payment becomes your responsibility and is due at that time.
DO YOU ACCEPT MY DENTAL INSURANCE?
In most cases the answer is yes. If we can verify with your insurance company that you have coverage, and can determine the specifics of your coverage, we will accept the insurance. This means that we will handle the processing and billing of your insurance for you and will wait for the insurance to reimburse us. You will be asked to pay your co-pay and deductible (if any applies) at the time that the service is provided.
Of the hundreds of insurance companies our patients use, there are some who send payment to the patient. If your insurance sends payment to the patient, we will be happy to process your claim for you. You will be asked to pay the balance in full at the time of service and the insurance reimbursement will be sent to you. We will accept credit card payment. In many cases your insurance reimbursement will arrive before the credit card payment is due.
DO YOU PARTICIPATE WITH MY INSURANCE PLAN? ARE YOU IN-NETWORK?
“Accept” your insurance means that you can use your insurance in our office and receive reimbursement to the extent provided under your policy.
“Participate” with your insurance means that we have signed a contract with the insurance plan. This document requires that we accept greatly discounted fees in exchange for the employer/insurance company telling their employees/customers to come to us for service. We do not contract (in-network) with many insurance plans. In most cases if we are out of network you can still use your insurance in our office.
Link: Why we opt out of insurance networks
There are literally hundreds of different plans, and they constantly change their rules. For more information on using your insurance in our practice, please call us at (585) 335-2201.
NO INSURANCE, NO PROBLEM!
For patients without insurance, we offer a membership plan. This is an optional cost savings program based upon a flat monthly fee that covers your routine care at a discount, plus a discounted member rate on non-routine care.
Financing
Payment in full is expected at the time services are rendered unless previous financial arrangements have been made.
Payment may be made in the form of cash, personal check, MasterCard, Visa, or Discover Card. Extended payment options and financing are also available to assist our patients in being able to fit their dental care needs into their budget.
We will openly and honestly discuss all fees prior to providing the service and will gladly work with you to plan your dental care to fit within your financial picture.
Financing is available through CareCredit.
More About Insurance Terms
The following are some basic terms that will greatly improve your understanding of how your dental insurance works.
“Accepting” Insurance
Deductible
Participating Insurance
Annual Limit
Typical limits are $1,000 or $1,500 per calendar year. Even though premiums go up every year and dental fees go up every year, these annual insurance limits have not increased since the 1960s. So each year the buying power and value of your insurance policy actually decreases. We will monitor your annual limit for you and do our best to inform you of where you stand. However, we cannot be aware of work that you have had done in other offices (including specialists that we referred you to) , and cannot monitor every insurance for every patient. You will need to keep an eye on your annual limits yourself – which should show on every insurance statement you receive.
