Assignment of benefits

Assignment of benefits is the authorization a patient signs allowing their insurance company to pay the dental office directly for covered services, rather than sending the reimbursement check to the patient and requiring the practice to collect the full fee upfront and wait to be repaid. For an in-network provider it is typically a required part of the plan participation agreement; for an out-of-network practice it is often optional, and some practices choose not to accept assignment specifically so they can collect the full fee at the time of service.

The practical effect of accepting assignment is a cash-flow tradeoff: the practice waits on the insurer's payment timeline instead of collecting immediately from the patient, which is part of why accounts receivable and days in AR matter so much for a heavily insurance-dependent practice. A practice that declines assignment on out-of-network claims shifts that waiting period onto the patient instead, collecting its own fee upfront while the patient deals directly with their insurer for reimbursement.

Whichever policy a practice chooses, it should be applied consistently and explained clearly at the time financial arrangements are made, so a patient is never surprised by who is actually responsible for the claim.