Insurance Information
Dental Insurance
At Dentistry at Pelham Pointe, we will work with you to maximize your insurance reimbursement for covered procedures.
Prior to your initial visit, please provide your insurance information so that we can expedite reimbursement. For our current patients, if you have had a change in your dental insurance since your last visit, be sure to provide us with updated information.
Please note, we are not Medicare or Medicaid providers and are unable to accept payment from these programs. Additionally, we are out-of-network for any and all insurance plans. You will not find our name on a Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) list.
We can file your primary insurance once coverage has been established. However, dental benefits are your responsibility.
We will try to help you calculate your benefit in dollars, with any co-payment and deductible due at the time of service.
Since this is an estimate, even with a pre-determination, there can be no guarantee of what your insurance company will pay. This may result in a credit or balance due.
Credits may be applied to future treatment or a refund may be requested. If there is a balance due, you will receive a statement.
If your insurance has not been paid in 30 days, we will re-file your claim. After 60 days, or if the claim is denied, the full balance becomes your responsibility.
Our insurance coordinator will be glad to answer any questions about your dental coverage, including secondary insurance or health savings accounts.
If your insurance company reimburses you, we ask that you pay in full the day of treatment.
Dental Insurance FAQ
- Why do my benefits have an annual maximum?
- Why does my insurance only pay for the least expensive treatment?
- Why won’t insurance cover x-rays, cleanings, and gum treatment?
- What do I do if I think my insurance should cover my treatment?
- Why can you only estimate my coverage?
- Do you accept Medicate/Medicaid?
We’re Here To Help!
Contact us with any questions or to schedule an appointment.
Why is your name not on my list of Preferred Providers?
We do accept most insurance plans; however, you will not find our name on any PPO list of providers. It’s important to know that in most cases, there is not much difference in the benefits you receive seeing an out-of-network provider versus an in-network one.
We are proud that all of our patients choose us for our care and not because of insurance.
Dental insurance is not like medical insurance. Many people don’t know this, but most dental insurance plans actually allow you to see any dentist you choose! However, some insurance companies have signed up a list of dentists willing to accept lower reimbursement in exchange for steering patients to their office. Insurance companies call these dentists “Preferred Providers.” Insurance companies get people to choose their “Preferred Providers” by reducing deductibles or patient payments at those specific offices.
Dental offices that are highest quality and less sales-oriented often don’t participate in these “In-Network” lists. At Dentistry at Pelham Pointe, our doctors have chosen not to become “Preferred Providers” for any insurance company. They have done so in order to continue to provide affordable, high quality dental care to our patients– without insurance companies’ interference in treatment recommendations or limitations on which specialists we may refer to.
Why doesn’t my insurance cover all the costs of my dental treatment?
Dental insurance isn’t really insurance (a payment to cover the cost of a loss) at all. It is actually a money benefit typically provided by an employer to help their employees pay for routine dental treatment.
The employer buys a plan based on the amount of the benefit and how much the premium costs per month. Most benefit plans are only designed to cover a portion of the total cost.
But my plan says that my exams and certain procedures are covered at 100%.
That 100% is usually what the insurance carrier allows as payment toward the procedure, not what your dentist or any other dentist in your area may actually charge.
For example, say your charge is $80.00 for an examination, not including X-rays. Your carrier may allow $60.00 as the 100% payment for that examination, leaving $20.00 for you to pay.
How does my insurance carrier come up with its allowed payments?
Many carriers refer to allowed payments as UCR, which stands for usual, customary, and reasonable. However, usual, customary and reasonable does not mean exactly what it seems to mean. UCR is a listing of payments for all covered procedures negotiated by your employer and the insurance company.
This listing is related to the cost of the premiums and where you are located in your city and state. Your employer has likely selected an allowed payment or UCR payment that corresponds to the premium cost they desire. UCR payments could be accurately called negotiated payments.
Since most payments are negotiated, does this mean that there is always a balance left for me to pay?
Typically there is always a portion that is not covered by your benefit plan.
I received an Explanation of Benefits from my insurance carrier that says my dental bill exceeded the usual and customary. Does this mean that I am being charged more than I should?
It does not mean that the dentist is charging too much. Remember that what insurance carriers call UCR is really just what your employer and the insurance company have negotiated as the amount that will be paid toward your treatment.
It is usually much less than what any dentist in your area might actually charge for a dental procedure.
Why is there an annual maximum on my benefits?
Maximums limit what a carrier has to cover each year. Amazingly, despite the fact that costs have steadily increased, annual maximum levels for dental care have not changed since the 1960s.
Why does my dental plan only pay toward the least expensive alternative treatment?
To save money. We may recommend a crown, but your insurance only offers a benefit toward a filling. This does not mean you have to accept the filling.
The good news is that some benefits will be paid: the bad news is that more of the fee will be your responsibility. Remember that a dentist’s responsibility is to prescribe what is best for you.
The insurance carrier’s responsibility is to control payments.
Why won’t my insurance pay anything toward some procedures, such as x‐rays, cleanings, and gum treatments?
Your plan contract specifies how many of certain types of procedures it will consider annually. It limits the number of X-rays, cleanings, etc. covered because these are the types of treatments that many people have frequently.
What should I do if my insurance does not pay for treatment I think should be covered?
Because your insurance coverage is between you, your employer, and the insurance carrier, dentists do not have the power to make your plan pay. If your insurance does not pay, you are responsible for the total cost of treatment.
Sometimes a plan may pay if patients send in a claim for themselves. The Employee Benefits Coordinator at your place of employment may be able to help. Patients may also lodge complaints with the state Insurance Commission.
Why can you only estimate my coverage?
Dentists deal with thousands of plans and hundreds of types of treatments each year. Most carriers refuse to release the details of their plans.
They change policies and reimbursements constantly– and without notifying us.
Do you accept Medicare and/or Medicaid?
We are not Medicare or Medicaid providers and are unable to accept payment from these programs.
If you have any problems or questions, please ask our staff. They are well informed and up-to-date. They can be reached by phone at Greenville Office Phone Number 864-271-6705.
Have Further Questions?
Contact us with any questions or to schedule an appointment.