There are websites designed to help consumers estimate what dental services will cost them. One for you and your team to check out is:
http://www.fairhealthconsumer.org
On their website they state: “Fair Health is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to help consumers understand the out-of-network reimbursement system and estimate out-of-network medical and dental costs. Our free website has an easy-to-use cost estimator tool to help with your health care expense planning. We also offer clear and unbiased educational articles and videos about the medical and dental reimbursement system.”

Fair Health was formed in 2009 as a result of a fraud investigation by then NY State’s Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. The ADA granted access to the CDT codes in February of 2011. They will have medical information available in August of 2011.

We have always recommended that you submit your full fee to the insurance company on a dental claim form. It now becomes even more important to not submit contractually discounted fees.  Not only because this will skew the maximum allowable fees determined by carriers based on data submitted by practices but it will skew the costs posted on websites like Fair Health. This will cause consumers to question the fees you are charging when they have a “non-biased” resource about what your fees “should” be.

Have a team meeting and make sure everyone knows about this website and how your fees compare to what is posted on the Fair Health website. Talk about how to deal with patient’s concerns and what to say. As always if you need help, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.