Can my doctor ask for money before services?

With the popularity of high deductible health plans, it is becoming a common practice among many facilities and doctors to ask for money upfront before surgery and other higher cost procedures.  Many doctors have had problems of never receiving payment by members and this has led them to take payment in advance.  Unfortunately, our customer care team and your insurance carrier cannot stop this from happening.  The biggest issue with this is that you may have multiple claims pending and you can end up paying the provider too much once the claims have processed.  If you paid your provider in advance and met your deductible before that specific claim processed, the provider should owe you a refund.  If you have already met your deductible or out of pocket max or are very close to meeting it and your provider is trying to collect a larger amount than what is left, let your provider know and try to have the amount adjusted. If the provider does not budge our customer care team can try to verify with your carrier where you are on your deductible and out of pocket max and try to confirm with the provider what is left and the amount they can collect. If you do pay in advance, be sure to know what you pay in advance and make sure you do not pay the amount again when you receive a bill.