Firstly, Medicare does not pay for dental services unless you have a Medicare advantage plan. If you have one of them, then you have an insurance company that administers it. A dentist may or may not be in network for that plan. If, for example, Metlife is the administrator of the Medicare advantage plan and your dentist is in network with Metlife, then you have benefits for them. If on the other hand you have an HMO plan, then you must go to where the insurance company assigns you. Again, this is a choice that you make, not the dentist. The dentist is not specifically REFUSING Medicare plans. Find a plan that your dentist participates in and get the Medicare advantage plan that works with it. I participate in almost all PPO plans and the discount for the patients is substantial. If the patient has a Medicare advantage plan, great.
Here is an example of how unreasonable Medicare is with bureaucracy and requirements. I wanted to bill Medicare Medical for a Sleep Apnea appliance. In order to do that, They require you to use one of about 3 types of "approved" appliances. No other commonly used appliances will be paid. The lab cost for the appliance is $600. The reimbursement was only $800. It takes 2 appointments to make the appliance, then you have to titrate the appliance with several more visits. All told on average 5-6 visits for $200 minus the cost of impression materials and labor to clean, setup and clean again the rooms every time and other dental supplies. It is simply not worth the hassle.
The decision to participate in a PPO plan is another whole story. Cigna has increased reimbursements a total of 2$ over
