Aetna

Assurant

Blue Cross Blue Shield Arizona

Delta

Delta Tricare - retired military

Humana

MetLife

SunLife

United Concordia

United Concordia Tricare-Active Military

What is the difference between "accepting dental insurance" and being a "contracted and/or preferred provider" with insurance?

When patients call dental offices, their first question often is, "Do you 'take' my insurance?'"

Unfortunately, the way that many offices choose to answer that question is, "Yes."

 There is a BIG difference in asking if an office "takes" insurance and asking this question instead, "Are you a PREFERRED PROVIDER, or ARE YOU CONTRACTED with my insurance?"

This difference is very important!  When a dental office is a CONTRACTED/PREFERRED PROVIDER, it means that the office has agreed to accept a limit on fees set by the insurance company.  If an office is not Contracted/Preferred, that office has the right to charge YOU the difference between the limited fee that insurance will pay and the full, actual fee amount charged by the office.

As you can see, visiting a Contracted/Preferred Provider can save the patient hundreds of dollars out-of-pocket (25-30% on out-of-network fees).

 More important information regarding insurance.

Important Patient Information:

     ►What is the NAME of your insurance company?

     ►What is your GROUP NUMBER?

     ►What is your INDIVIDUAL ID NUMBER?

     ►What is the ADDRESS and PHONE NUMBER?

     ►TAKE YOUR CARD TO YOUR VISIT!!!

     ►Do you know what your deductible is? 

     ►Do you know what your annual limit is?

     ►Do you know if you have a co-pay?

         Most dental and medical provider offices will file insurances for their patients. HOWEVER, dental and medical offices do not work for (in conjunction with) the insurance company. This means that when an insurance company designates a "Patient Portion" on services, the patient is responsible to pay the provider that designated amount.  Many offices wait to be paid by insurance, and the common practice of most provider offices is to estimate "Patient Portion" at the time of each visit.

More and more frequently, dental and medical offices are requiring patients to pay the entire bill at the time of services.  The patient is then reimbursed by their insurance company for payment of services.

WE DO NOT REQUIRE full payment, but WE DO COLLECT patient estimated payment at the time of services. This payment, collected as "Patient Portion", is only an estimate as the insurance company has the final "Patient Portion" assignment.