Financial Information
At Sterling Virginia Smiles we aim to provide you with affordable, high-quality treatment that fits your budget and surpasses your expectations! We offer a variety of payment options to meet your needs.
Our office accepts payments by cash, checks, and Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover credit cards. If you have any questions about payment, please ask our team! Our helpful and experienced staff is available to talk through your choices and support you with your next steps to ensure you get the treatment you need without any financial worries.
Insurance Information
Our Sterling dental practice accepts many insurance providers. As a courtesy to you, we will file your insurance claim for you as long as we have all of your insurance information at your appointment.
You should review your insurance plan and be prepared to pay the amount that your insurance will not cover. Each claim is filed electronically, so your insurance company will receive the information a day or two after your treatment. Insurance companies are given 30 days to pay the claims. If there is a balance on your account after 30 days, you are responsible for that amount. A re-billing fee of 1.5% will be added to your account each month after 60 days that the balance is not paid. We will provide a refund if your insurance pays us during that time.
Filing Claims
While we are happy to assist you in filing claims and estimating your portion of the cost, your dental insurance is a contract between you and your insurance company and our dental office is not responsible for the actions of your insurance company in how they handle claims or decide which benefits to pay. We are also not responsible for errors in filing your insurance.
It is important for our patients to have a good understanding of insurance in general and their own insurance plan:
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Insurance does not pay the full amount of most procedures.
The amount paid for a procedure is determined by a number of factors, including the type of contract established between an employer and the insurance company as well as what plan each individual selects.
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We do not determine your benefits.
Sometimes an insurance company reimburses less than the dentist’s fee. The insurance company may state that this is because the fee charged by the dentist exceeded the usual, customary and reasonable fee (UCR). This statement is misleading and not necessarily true. Insurance companies set their own fees and pay for services based upon a range of fee schedules. Many plans have a deductible that is predetermined, which must be paid before the insurance company starts paying for care. Once the deductible is met, the insurance company often pays 50 to 80% of the UCR fees, which means the patient must pay a variable percentage of the total fee. This calculation is also affected by whether the dentist has a contract with the given insurance company, a relationship otherwise known as “in-network”
Often, UCR rates are not representative of local dental office fees. In general, insurance carriers set UCR fees way below the area average, leaving patients responsible for more “out-of-pocket” costs.
Appointment Cancellation
We understand that occasionally circumstances arise that prevent you from keeping your appointment. However, time is reserved exclusively for you with the dentist and/or hygienist. Broken appointments with less than 48-hours’ notice will incur a charge of $75. Your insurance company does not cover this charge; however, if you provide us with a doctor’s note that you were seen on the scheduled appointment date, we will credit the broken appointment fee to your account.