One concern on the part of medical providers is whether discounting fees is legal. Some insurance companies (Medicare in particular) have implied that discounting fees could be considered ‘patient baiting’. By discounting services, a doctor could possibly be providing unnecessary services that were purchased by the patient solely due to the fact that they thought that they were getting a bargain.
In response to this issue, the OIG (Office of the Inspector General) of CMS (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services) came out with a recent response to this issue. At issue was fee discounting by a health care system for patients who pay promptly. The OIG agreed that discounting is fair and reasonable.
Remember, OIG Advisory decision, like Advisory Opinion No. 08-03, are case specific. Each case may vary based upon the details presented to the OIG. But the decision by The OIG does bode well for organizations like HowMuchDoc.com. In fact, it even says to individual providers that discounting fees for prompt payment is a reasonable incentive to their patients.
Jeff Oster, DPM
Medical Director
HowMuchDoc.com
