At Ritter and Ramsey, our mission is to deliver excellence in all the dental services we provide our patients.  Regardless of whether your needs are big or small, we want you to feel comfortable allowing us to help you achieve your goals.  To ensure you make informed decisions regarding your care, all treatment and associated fees are discussed ahead of time.  Whatever your concerns may be, we have several ways to help and strive to assist everyone we can throughout our community.

Our Fees

At our office, we work to ensure our fees are competitive and fair.  We collect payment at the time of service and file the necessary claim with the dental insurance company.  For your convenience, we accept several payment options including Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express.  Additionally, financial arrangements can be made to extend your payments over a period of months in order to fit your individual needs.

About Insurance

We will happily file a claim on your behalf if we receive all your insurance information prior to your appointment.  While our team of in-office professionals is dedicated to getting you reimbursed through your dental insurance carrier, it is ultimately the patient’s responsibility to understand the differences between dental and medical insurance as well as the specifics of his/her policy.

Insurance companies are primarily interested in making money; the more money they pay out, the less profitable they are.  In order to avoid or delay paying claims, insurance carriers often state they failed to receive certain information in order to delay their payment requirements by 45 days.  As a courtesy to the policyholder, we digitally document what information is sent to the insurance company and when we sent it.  Because insurance companies are required by law to pay any claim within 30 days of receipt, we file most claims electronically so that your insurance carrier will receive the claim within days of treatment.  Should the insurance company pay us, we will promptly send the funds to you.

Despite many patients believing that their insurance pays 90-100% of all dental fees, most insurance plans only pay 30-80% of the average fees.  In some cases, dental insurance reimburses the policyholder at a rate lower than the actual dentist’s fees.  What is ultimately reimbursed is dependent on the policy you choose, how much coverage you or your employer pay for, or any contract your employer has established with the insurance company.

When your dental insurance reimbursement is lower than the actual fees incurred, it is often because the insurance company will argue that your dentist’s fees surpassed what is considered usual, customary, or reasonable (UCR).  This is misleading as it gives the impression than any fee greater than what the insurance carrier pays for, is unreasonable or higher than what other dentists in the area charge.  Essentially, it suggests that your dentist is overcharging you instead of saying they have low benefits or want to underpay the fees.  Policyholders should be aware that UCR is solely based on what the insurance company wants to pay for, based on their own schedules and desire to generate profit, rather than having anything to do with regional fees.  Often, the data insurance carriers use is outdated and set in order to generate a 20-30% profit.  Generally, lower cost insurance policies use a lower UCR figure.

Convenient Online Services

We realize you are busy which is why we are committed to providing you superior, leading-edge service.  Through our secure online service, you can:

• View your appointment schedule and account information
• Enroll in email or text appointment reminders
• Review your payment history and see current charges
• Print flex spending reimbursements and tax receipts