We require payment at the time of visit. Please understand that under Maine law, the parent who accompanies the child to the appointment is responsible for the payment of that appointment. Legally, we cannot send statements to other persons. For your convenience, we accept payment via cash, check, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, iCare, or CareCredit. Please note - the application for Care Credit can be completed online. To complete an application for iCare please contact our office.
We accept all commercial dental insurances. Doctor Scholl participates with Delta Dental's Premier Network. Doctors Erin and Emily participates with Delta Dental PPO. We will estimate your portion of payment at the initial visit and will collect your estimated out of pocket responsibility at the operative (sealants, fillings, etc.) appointment. As a courtesy, if you bring all insurance information at the initial visit, we will be happy to file your claim for you. You must be familiar with your insurance benefits, as we will collect from you the estimated amount insurance is not expected to pay.
You are responsible for any balance on your account after 30 days whether insurance has paid or not*. If you have not paid your balance within 60 days, a finance charge of 1.5% will be added to your account each month until paid. Should it become necessary to send an account to a collection agency, we add a service charge to the balance.
Please understand that we file dental insurance claims as a courtesy to our patients. We do not determine the structure of your insurance coverage with your insurance carrier; only you and your employer do*. We are not responsible for what benefits they pay on a claim. We can only assist you in estimating your portion of the cost of treatment. We cannot be responsible for any errors in the processing of your claim. At times insurance companies will reverse a coverage decision at a later date and any resulting balance is the responsibility of the patient. Our staff will be happy to assist you in answering questions regarding your dental insurance however your insurer and employer will have the highest level of detail for your questions.
NO DENTAL INSURANCE PAYS for 100% OF PROCEDURES. Dental insurance is an aid to receiving dental care. Most plans pay 50-80% of the average total fee. The amount paid is usually determined by how much you or your employer has paid for coverage or the type of contract your employer has set up with the insurance company.
BENEFITS ARE NOT DETERMINED BY OUR OFFICE. You may notice that in some instances your dental insurer reimburses you or the dentist at a lower rate than the dentist's actual fee. Frequently, insurance companies state that the reimbursement was reduced because your dentist's fees have exceeded the usual, customary or reasonable fee ("UCR") used by the company. A statement such as this implies that any fee greater than that reimbursed is unreasonable or well above the industry standard. This is very misleading and inaccurate. Insurance companies set their own fees based on fee information from claims it processes and each insurance company has different fees they consider allowable. Frequently, these allowable fees may not be up-to-date and are variable based on the type/cost of the plan chosen by an individual or employer. Unfortunately, this implies that the dentist is overcharging instead of the insurance company underpaying. In general, the less expensive the dental coverage, the lower the UCR fees will be.
DEDUCTIBLES AND CO-PAYMENTS MUST BE CONSIDERED. When estimating dental benefits, it is important to consider deductibles and percentages (co-payments). For example, assume a fee for service is $150. Assuming the insurance company allows $150 as its usual and customary fee (UCR), we can calculate the amount you will owe. First, we need to meet the deductible. The average for this is $50, which must be paid by you before insurance benefits will begin. This leaves $100. If this particular service is covered by your insurance at 80%, your insurance will cover $80 of this fee. This means in this example you will pay $70 and the insurance will pay $80. This amount will change if UCR, deductible or co-payment percentage changes.
It is very important that you update our office of any insurance changes. This will expedite processing of your claim and allow us to estimate your charges appropriately.
*This does not apply to Delta Dental, Comcast Universal Elite Network or Medicaid.