Your right to a Good Faith Estimate
In January of 2022 a new law went into effect which provides balance-billing* protections for individuals seeking care from providers or facilities who are either out of network for the client's insurance plan or who do not currently have insurance coverage. This law is known as the No Surprises Act. It states that individuals as listed above are entitled to be notified of their rights when considering whether to engage the services of a provider or facility who unbeknownst to them, may not be in-network with their insurance plan.
Client Rights:
- You have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate of costs associated with receiving care at our office. We will provide this upon request by phone as well as in email along with your appointment confirmation. Receipt of the Good Faith Estimate does not constitute an agreement by you to receive services at our office.
- If we are out of network with your insurance plan, you have the right to pursue care with other providers and agencies which may be in network with your insurance plan or who charge a lower private pay rate.
- You have the right to dispute any fees which are incurred and appear to be above what is listed in the Good Faith Estimate quoted to you.
- You may wish to receive care with our providers even though we are out of network with their insurance plan. In this case, we will require a signed consent in order to bill at the rates listed on our Good Faith Estimate and to bill for any balances due above out of network rates.
- We endeavor to regularly update directories and our website to reflect accurate insurance plan participation.
*Balance Billing: Balance billing is an issue most common in large facilities like hospitals, specifically crisis or emergency care. Occasionally, individuals who thought they were receiving care from an in-network facility discovered their bill was higher than expected because they were unknowingly cared for by an out-of-network provider. In the past, without the patient's consent, these facilities could charge the patient the difference between what was covered by the patient's insurance plan and the fees charged by the facility. This is known as balance billing. The balance billing requirement of the No Surprises Act aims to ensure clients are notified and agree in advance to possible higher costs when seeking services from an out of network provider.
