Mad about Delta’s $15/week administrative fee for paper checks?
Are you a Provider for Delta Dental?
THEN PLEASE REACH OUT TO DELTA DENTAL TO LET THEM KNOW OF YOUR FRUSTRATION! How?
Send an Email to send to: providerconcierge@delta.org
It is best for you to send an email in your words and not flood Delta with a template letter. If it would help, please take the template below and alter it to add your thoughts:
Delta Dental of California and Affiliates Members:
I am writing to protest Delta Dental’s proposed $15 weekly charge to receive physical checks for claim reimbursements. As a dentist and a so-called “trusted partner” according to your website, providing necessary health care services, I object to this coercive effort levied upon my practice to force me and other in-network dentists to shift to EFT. This fee proposal may improve Delta’s bottom line, but it punishes small businesses wishing to remain with traditional paper checks for claim payments.
This “administrative fee” is described in Delta’s announcement as ‘…a separate administrative charge […] and does not constitute a reduction in, or amendment to, reimbursement rates for services rendered.” This carefully crafted message is an attempt to soften the blow, but the financial impact is clear: more revenue for insurers at the expense of main street dental practices like mine.
Delta Dental’s action constitutes disproportional administrative and financial burdens placed on small, independent dental offices like mine. According to Dr. Daniel Crowley, chief dental officer, on your webpage, “We want to contribute to the provider’s success as a businessperson, as a healer, as a community member.” The imposition of a coercive fee runs exactly contrary to this sentiment.
Dental practices choosing physical checks do so to maintain clear audit trails and minimize payment reconciliation complications often associated with EFT-type payment modalities. I would echo the American Dental Association’s belief that dentists should have the freedom to choose their preferred method of reimbursement and receive the full value of their payments without being subjected to unnecessary administrative fees or payment processing charges. Dental practices choose physical checks for a variety of legitimate operational reasons, including maintaining clear audit trails and simplifying payment reconciliation. Thirty-nine states have adopted laws to address the problem of fees dentists must pay to collect insurers’ claim payments. Yet, it seems Delta Dental believes the rapidly growing trend of prohibiting fees on payment modalities is not worthy of recognition.
I request that Delta Dental immediately revoke the $15 check fee policy proposal.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. I look forward to your written response and a resolution to this issue.
Sincerely,
