Can dental office charge different fee schedules?

Answer 1

Your 'Insurance Commissioner' could help you with those fees. Every U S State has one. Also, U S Congress passed the (HIPAA) Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act which is administered by U S Dept of Health & Human Services. The HIPAA is intended to protect patients' medical records. HIPAA calls these records "protected health information." If you have questions about fees and cannot get an 'up front' answer from your doctor, then make a written request of all information concerning your visit the type of service, the fees, the products used and type, and a break down of fees. Requesting under the HIPAA requires the doctor and staff to respond. Send your letter of request by Certified First Class Mail with your Post Office. Use a 'return receipt' which will show who signed for the 'letter of request' and the date. This will be returned to you. You will have a record of their receipt, who, when, and where. If they do not respond, they are breaking the law. Take this information to your Insurance Comissioner. Call your local 'City Hall' and find out when he comes to your city for interviews. Or call your state Insurance Comissioners office to see when they have scheduled your city. Another Answer: Yes, dentists can and frequently do charge different fees to different patients for the same procedures. This is most often because the dentist has signed a contract with several different insurance companies. The contract often limits how much the doctor may charge a patient who presents with that insurance. The fee schedules often are quite different from one insurance company to another. In this respect, there is nothing illegal, unethical, or immoral being done by the dentist. If the patient feels the fees are excessive, their beef is probably with their insurance company, not the dentist.