Posted by Rich Spurr on March 28, 1998 at 12:45:24:
In Reply to: Re: Question 3 posted by Roni on March 26, 1998 at 17:48:45:
: : : Apparently physicians are restricted when offering professional courtesy. "If you cannot reduce the cost of care for anyone else in your practice, you cannot reduce it for physicians." This rule is established by private insurers as well as the federgovernment. There are also laws regarding waiving co-pays, offering discounts, and taking kickbacks. There is not a problem, however, if a dr should desire to waive an entire charge for care unless it is part of a fraudulent scheme.
: : why is it o.k to waive the entire charge but not a discount?
: discount is okay but it must apply to the entire charge, not just the co-pay. Also once an insurer knows you will accept a discounted payment they can then choose to pay the lower price from then on. So the doc needs to be careful. Insurance cos don't have a problem with waiving the entire amount because that would reduce costs for them.
Any physician who waives a fee or gives a discount is taking money out of his/her own pocket. It used to be that the you could pay any amount of money for an office visit and the doctor would take it. However this is not the case anymore. Due to the decreased amounts of money being
reimbursed to physicians, this practice is almost obsolete.