Obama Care vs Republicans

[infinite monkey]

A sort of tangent/agreement to the 'charging more' claim above.

My teeth fiasco would have cost me about 3600 dollars, if'n I'd had dental insurance still. That would've cost me 1800 out of pocket, as it did before. With discounts for not having insurance it cost me ~2500. So it's true: they would charge more if I had insurance knowing insurance would pick up some costs.

Now how does that make sense?

[Lamplighter]

It may not make sense, but better for the dentist to get paid the
lesser amount than to loose more turning it over to a bill collection agency

Or, maybe it's sort of like getting a 10% discount for being a member
of AAA, AARP, etc.... just good PR.

[henry quirk]

Lamp,

Or, mebbe, sometimes, it's about a services receiver who's conscious about what he or she is payin' for (and who demands bang for buck) instead of someone who just kinda ignores price since 'it's covered' (the insurance version of 'the commons').

[BigV]

Originally Posted by infinite monkey

A sort of tangent/agreement to the 'charging more' claim above.

My teeth fiasco would have cost me about 3600 dollars, if'n I'd had dental insurance still. That would've cost me 1800 out of pocket, as it did before. With discounts for not having insurance it cost me ~2500. So it's true: they would charge more if I had insurance knowing insurance would pick up some costs.

Now how does that make sense?

One simple explanation is that the dentist is offering a cash discount. Getting paid cash and right away is worth more to the dentist than getting paid more by an insurance company later and with more hassle, claim filing, etc.

Maybe it "costs" the dentist more to deal with insurance patients and he's just passing those costs along to his customers.