Co Pays

Yes you really do owe your co pay at time of service. The co pay is the amount you agree to pay for office visits according to your contract with your insurance carrier. If you don't pay the co pay it's possible your insurance carrier will deny payment, which means you get stuck with the entire bill.

Sometimes patients are bothered by the fact that their doctor's office collects the co pay before they see the doctor.  There are many reasons offices do this, it's easy to forget to collect it at check out, patient's are more likely not to skip out on paying their co pay if it's paid before seeing the doctor, but a friend of mine put it best...you wouldn't take our groceries home and use them without paying first.

 

Asking for discounts...

I read in a magazine article several years ago (I don't remember what magazine or the author) tips on how to negotiate a lower fee for medical services.  Most of the tips were legitimate; my only beef with the article was that it made it sound as though doctors were ripping off the public (keep in mind any money collected from patients and insurance carriers doesn't all go to the doctor, it helps pay the entire office staff too...I don't work for free).  

Many hospitals and doctor's offices do offer discounts to patients who are self pay (usually only if they pay the balance in full at time of service).  However, if you have insurance you're already getting a discount, so trying to negotiate a lower fee for services isn't allowed because that could be considered insurance fraud. 

Questions? Comments?

deargabbyinsurance@yahoo.com