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Why We Must Collect Credit Card Info Due to the many managed care
plans which now have IN-NETWORK DEDUCTIBLES AND CO-INSURANCE CHARGES, we must now obtain credit card information for each visit.
Nothing, except for travel vaccines, will be charged to the credit card,
unless the insurance fails to pay the covered charges.
Be aware that a visit or a procedure may be fully covered, yet the insurance may pay us nothing, as it may all go toward the deductible. There may also
be added co-insurance charge in some cases.
We are obligated by law then to charge the full amount, as under-charging is equivalent to us paying your co-insurance and deductible and we, and you, can be charged
with insurance fraud and manipulation.
So please be fully aware of your deductible obligations, some as high as $5000, and realize that many plans force the patient to pay out-of-pocket sums before the deductible
is covered! Check with your insurance agent or your HR person, and realize there are hundreds of different plans and only YOU can know the coverage details. Insurance is a for profit business, and YOU must
know the details of your plan well. Even calling the insurer sometimes leads to incorrect information!
We must pay for vaccines up front and we must carry a very expensive inventory of vaccines in
order to provide immediate availability. So we must collect upon administration of travel vaccines, and hopefully your insurance company will reimburse you if appropriate
We cannot possibly be the ones
responsible for dealing with your insurance company, but we will obviously provide documentation and support when possible. We know these are economically difficult times, and we will hopefully be able to provide
service with extended hours and referral support and stay in network.
With a $140,000 annual rent increase upcoming August 1, 2010, and a $100,000 weekly payroll, we may be forced to drop many or all plans in the
future and charge regular prices, as do most of our Manhattan colleagues.
We appreciate your cooperation and, as we have in the past, will try hard to provide good care and stay in network.
Drs. Yaffe and Ruden |
