We publish every self-pay price on the first-visit page, and we still get the same question at the desk several times a day: ‘So what will I actually pay?’ The answer depends on four words on your card. Here they are, with our real numbers.
In-network
Salus is in-network with Aetna, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Oscar and Medicare Part B. In-network means your plan has agreed prices with us, so you pay your plan’s share of the visit, not the self-pay price. If your plan is not on that list, you are out-of-network: you pay the self-pay price at the desk and we give you an itemized receipt to claim back whatever your plan allows.
Copay
The fixed amount you pay per visit, printed on your card — $40 is typical for primary care. For most in-network patients, a check-up costs the copay and nothing else.
Deductible and coinsurance
Some plans make you pay the full agreed price yourself until you have spent your deductible for the year, and then a percentage — the coinsurance — after that. This is where a $180 new-patient visit can cost $180 in January and $40 in October on the same plan. We check your plan before the visit and tell you the number in advance; if we cannot confirm it, we tell you that too.
When the plan says no
Preventive visits and screenings are covered in-network almost everywhere. Some things are not — a dental cleaning beyond two a year, cosmetic dermatology — and for those you pay the published self-pay price before the visit, never after. HSA and FSA cards work at the desk. If a bill ever surprises you, message reception through the portal: the answer is usually a coding fix, not a bigger bill.
