Wiki Deductibles

bmanus

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Good Morning,
I was wondering what the regulations are regarding taking a percentage off a patient's deductible. I thought that you could not discount a deductible.
Example the patient owes $350.00 to our office due to deductible but want a cash discount.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Beth
 
I used to run into this a lot with patients when I ran accounts receivable for a provider. What I would show patients is that with their insurance they are already getting a discounted rate. This usually would quell the situation you are in. But if I am correct the contract that you have between the insurance company and patient disallows you from offering a discount to patients deductables.
 
I believe that this would fall into the same category as not being able to write off copays. The insurance companies believe that if you can afford to write off copays, then you don't need their initial payments. It's not as if the provider is paying the deductible/copay, they just don't get paid for this and end up with that much less. As a biller, I have to do the same amount of work, but do not get paid as I work on a percentage basis and if the provider writes it off, then I can't be paid for what does not come in.
 
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The deductible and co-pays are usually counted in the out of pocket maximum. If you were to write that off it would be as if the provider was paying the patient's deductible/co-pay.
 
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