Payment, Insurance and Finance Info

About Our Fees

Our fees are determined according to the costs of doing business locally, the level of experience, training and expertise of the doctor and supporting staff, technological investments in equipment and materials, the quality of in-office service and contracted laboratories, the time we devote to treatment planning, sterilization and cleanliness, implementation of treatment chairside and understanding our patients concerns as well as many other factors. We don’t play games with insurance companies or the public by having tiered fee schedules that are intentionally hyperinflated in order to offset contract fee discounts while putting upward pressure on insurance fee allowances. We also feel it is only fair to everyone that our fees are non negotiable to anyone.

Payment Options:

We, at Comprehensive Dentistry of Orange Beach, are confident that we can help you to realize the value of your investment in good dental health and beautiful teeth. Of course, some of the best investments can initially be uncomfortable financially. Our goal in making financial arrangements is to be upfront, clear and thorough so that there are no unexpected surprises later. We want you to know that whether you pay by cash, finance through our affiliate finance company, Care Credit, or rely upon dental insurance, we are equal opportunity care givers (we give you our best). All fees for service, insurance co-payments and finances are due at the time services are rendered. We accept cash, checks, Master Card, Visa, Discover and American Express for your convenience.

Fee for Service (Without Insurance) Patients:

Our responsibility to you is to perform a thorough dental examination, inform you of your dental condition and offer you the best dental care available today, with options. It is then up to you to make informed decisions concerning your dental health and any treatment recommendations. We are confident that you will trust us with your dental health! With this in mind, the office’s policy is that we collect the full fee for services rendered at each visit. If you have a dental treatment plan that requires multiple visits over a span of time, we offer a financial incentive for prepayment of the entire treatment plan fee. Unless special arrangements have been made, we are unable to set up payment plans directly with patients. However, we do offer Care Credit, interest-free financing, for patients who are looking into or needing payment plans.

Dental Insurance Benefits:

Please refer to “Understanding Dental Insurance and How It Works.” This information allows you to see that insurance can be VERY complex. We are happy to work with you (the beneficiary), your employer (if they purchased your policy for you) and your insurance company to get maximum benefit payment for you. We will estimate your insurance benefits and co-payment to the best of our ability but we cannot guarantee 100% accuracy 100% of the time nor even payment by your insurance company. Often, insurance companies will provide us with a breakdown of your benefits in percentages, not in actually fee coverage. Percentages limit us to “doing the math” and provide an estimate of coverage and often, insurance is not as generous as we would hope. This is why we cannot guarantee 100% accuracy. You (the beneficiary) and your EBA (Employee Benefits Advisor) should become familiar with your policy so that if a question or dispute should arise over coverage, you both can discuss it with your insurance company. YOU ARE ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE FOR PAYMENT TO US FOR OUR ENTIRE FEE (unless you are the Delta Dental Premier Plan). Our responsibility is to perform a thorough dental examination, inform you of your dental condition and offer you the best dental care available today, with options, regardless of what your insurance company will pay. It is then up to you to make informed decisions concerning your dental health and any treatment recommendations. With this in mind, our office’s policy for first time patients is that we collect our full fee for services rendered at that visit. This allows us to input your information and insurance plan into our computer system as well as retrieve your explanation of benefits from your insurance company. Once this has been entered into the computer, we can better assist you on future visits with collecting an estimated co-payment from you. Insurance has 30 days upon receiving the insurance claims to reimburse the patient or the dentist. We do our best and strive to quickly submit your insurance claims to receive maximum reimbursements. However, we are unable to hold balances for more than 60 days. We can hold a credit card on file to charge any remaining balance that you may have once insurance has paid their portion. If you have dental treatment plan that requires multiple visits over a span of time, we offer a discount if the patient pays up front for the entire treatment plan. We will still file your insurance claims for your maximum reimbursement. (Ask our business administrator for more details on this.)

For Our Delta Dental Premier Insurance Plan Patients:

Because you are part of Delta Dental Premier, we have more information available to us, provided by your insurance company, to figure a more accurate co-payment. There are times that the estimates can be off, due to deductibles not being met or coverage exceeding its limitation. You, as a Delta Dental Premier patient, are responsible for your co-payments at the time of your visit as well as any remaining balance after insurance. Just like our other insurance patients, we do our best and strive to quickly submit your insurance claims to receive maximum reimbursements. However, we are unable to hold balances for more than 60 days. We can hold a credit card on file to charge any remaining balance that you may have once insurance has paid their portion. Because we are a provider for this insurance plan, you are already receiving discounted fees because of our obligation to accept your plan’s fees and “write-off” the difference from our fees. Therefore, any discounts we offer our other insurance patients and even non-insurance patients will not be offered to you due to the “discount” you are already receiving.

Care Credit Financing:

Care Credit is an option for patients wishing to open a line of credit and make payments. We invite you to click on the link below to read more about this program and what it has to offer. Just like any program, it does require you to apply. You have the option to apply via phone, internet or even a mail in application (see our business administrator for a copy of this form). Here at Comprehensive Dentistry of Orange Beach, we work within the 6 month and 12 month, no interest payment plans.

Broken Appointment Policy:

Because we value our patients, their time and the services we recommend to them, we schedule appointments accordingly. This means that unlike other practices, we do NOT double or triple book patients. Instead we want to keep “on time” and honor your time. Our policy is that we require at LEAST 24 hours notice of a cancellation or rescheduling of your appointment. This is so we can offer this time to another patient who may have an urgent need. Just as we are considerate of your time, we ask that you be considerate of ours! But we also understand that circumstances and unplanned events can happen that can cause you to miss your reserved appointment. If you exhibit a trend of broken appointments (considered broken when not given adequate notice), we will have to follow our protocol of charging a broken appointment fee or requiring a deposit of 50% of the scheduled treatment upon reservation of future appointments.