As most of you are aware, the 2019 Medicare Part B annual deductible is $185. Medicare beneficiaries often tell me that their doctor’s office wants to collect payment from them at their visit for the deductible they owe. It is not required nor recommended that you pay the deductible at the time of the visit. It is always best to wait until Medicare processes the claim before you pay the provider. If you have several office visits and/or labs close together, you cannot be sure which ones are going to be received by Medicare first. You could easily pay one provider only to find out that your deductible was applied to a different provider. You would then have to get your doctor’s office to refund the monies you paid them. It is recommended that you let your providers know that you will be waiting until your claims have been submitted and processed by Medicare. You can then compare the charges the doctor is requesting to what Medicare says you owe the provider.