March 21, 2024
Re: Cigna Dental Insurance
To Our Wonderful Patient’s,
We value the relationships we have with our patient’s and strive to provide personalized treatment recommendations, excellent care by high quality staff, and reliable materials. Our goal is that you leave our office each time not only healthier but also happy that you stopped by. Currently, seventy percent of the dental practices in the valley are owned by corporate dental groups. There is a significant difference in care between a private practice and corporate office. We are committed to remaining a private practice. While many businesses have the ability to raise their prices to offset the higher cost of labor and supplies, we are limited in this regard because dental contracts dictate what we are allowed to charge. Unfortunately, insurance fee schedules and reimbursement rates have remained low, and in some cases, have been further reduced during this challenging time.
In the coming weeks, you will likely receive a letter from Cigna stating that we are going out of network with your dental insurance. We are currently trying to negotiate a fee increase from Cigna. However, they will not negotiate until we inform them we are going out of network, at which point the negotiation process will begin. There are three possible outcomes:
1) Cigna will provide us with a fee schedule that we are willing to accept.
2) We will go out of network and pick up Cigna under a third party, which essentially keeps you in network.
3) We stay out of network because Cigna will reject our third-party affiliation. If this third option occurs, we will continue to see you and all of our patients who have Cigna insurance. We will still submit claims and fight for payment on your behalf. You may notice a small increase in your copayments if you have out of network coverage.
All private dental practices are facing the same crossroads we are. We cannot continue to operate with the standards we want to provide for you with the fee schedule Cigna currently offers us. We hope that you understand our rationale behind this decision and that you continue to choose to be patient with us as we negotiate with Cigna. We are happy to answer any questions you may have about what this change means for you by phone or in person, and we are looking forward to continuing to provide you with the best dental experience possible.
Sincerely,
Kerry Taylor DDS
Chandler Dental Excellence