It’s time for another frugal win of the week (FWOTW)
post!
One of the
most frustrating things about medical and dental insurance claims is how
confusing it can be to sort out the billing.
Since I have history of dental problems, I made
sure to sign up for a premium PPO dental plan through my employer each open enrollment. My wife also adds me to her PPO dental plan
through her employer.
I had a root canal performed by an endodontist in
December 2018. The total billed amount
from the specialist was $1,660. My copayment was $100, and I thought that took care of everything. 4 months later, the specialist office and the
2 separate dental insurances finally finished processing the claim. I just received a bill for $90.80, which was quite a surprise.
The first thing I did was contact the billing
specialist at my endodontist office to make sure that I really owed the $90.80
balance. After she went over all the
charges with me, it was time to pay the bill.
Here’s how our conversation went:
Her:
How would you like to pay your balance – check, debit or credit card?
Me:
Can I get a courtesy discount?
Her:
<pause> Um… sure I can offer you a
5% discount for paying in full.
Me:
Great, here’s my credit card number!
I ended up saving $4.54 just by asking nicely!
While this is not a significant amount of money, every bit helps along
our financial journey. I’m often
surprised how many discounts you can get on services just asking nicely.
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