Can practices “write-off” their inflated pricing for amounts beyond contracted payments from insurance companies?
Posting out of curiosity: Have been a pt at a questionable pain management practice (PM) and recently transferred to a new one due to many concerns.
Drug tests are required at all appts, and having been in PM for years, and in different practices, I was surprised to see that the “listed price” submitted to insurance for a drug test at the shady practice was $1200. Insurance pays ca. $130. My current and previous PM practices submitted numbers around $250-500 or so.
My question is: can this practice that grossly inflates the “price” to $1200 write off the remaining inflated amount in a way that is financially beneficial to them? For what reason would they come up with such a ridiculously inflated number?
I realize that no one pays these prices; simply wondered if/how they benefit from doing so. I questioned the practice manager about the $1200 they bill for a $130 test and they replied that they bill 300% of what Medicare reimburses, but that math obviously does not compute.
Just wondered if this practice somehow financially benefits from the inflated billing? They have highly questionable practices in many aspects of their administration.
ETA req info: 35F in SE USA (uncomfortable sharing specific location for privacy reasons—hope this suffices:)
submitted by /u/Adept-Blueberry-5070
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