1) When you sign up to be a provider for XYZ insurance, they ask what your usual and customary fee is (i.e., U&C). Once every year or two, the insurance companies survey your geographical area to determine the average cash fee. Their surveys are used to come up with a reimbursement number, which they discount by ~20%. This ends up being what they allow you to charge. From that charge, they often expect the patient to pay 20% (i.e., a co-pay). Insurance contracts usually have a clause that says that you promise that your surveyed cash rate is actually what you charge people, and not just some made up number. If you get audited, and the insurance company finds out that your actual cash rate is different than what you have been telling them, they can recoup the difference. This can also happen if they discover you are habitually waiving co-pays, as this serves as evidence that your actual U&C charges are 20% less.
Nightmare Example: You are a contracted provider for XYZ insurance. When signing the contract, you told them that your U&C hourly rate is $200/hr. XYZ insurance surveys your area, believes your rates are average for the area, discounts said U&C rate by 20% to ~$160/hr, directly reimburses you $128/hr, and requires you to get a $32 copay from the patient. Remember, you are contractually obligated to get that $32/hr co-pay. The insurance decides to audit you. They discover your website says you charge $100/hr, which is NOT what you told them. Then their audit team discovers that you always waive the $32 copay. That fee means you have misrepresented your actual U&C charges. Insurance uses the search function in their system, pulls up how many times they have paid you $128/hr. Let's say it's 100 times a year, over the last 5 years. Then they tell you that they know that you hourly rate is really $100/hr, and you lied to them when signing that contract. They also point out that the contract says you should be offering them a 20% discount on your U&C. At $100/hr, that is $80/hr, of which they cover $64, with the patient paying a 20% co-pay. Over those 5 years, they have paid you ~$64k, when they really should have paid you ~$32k. So you owe them $32k. Often, they will just subtract this from your monthly payments, over several years. Or maybe it's a criminal action for insurance fraud . IDK.
2) There is also some ridiculous concerns about "price fixing", where everyone says we shouldn't tell each other what we charge, because that might break price fixing laws. I've never heard of enforcement of that, but IDK much.
3) It's bad business.
a. It opens the door to downward negotiation, which never benefits you.
b. Because you have to increase your fees to meet inflation, you can catch people in a "that price was from before we adjusted our website".
c. What is the benefit to you?
