Jeff Dobbins, MD

05/18/2026

Hello Monday

05/11/2026

Due to a family emergency, the office will be closed Monday May 11, 2026. We will open at 7:30 on Tuesday May 12, 2026. Thank you.

05/07/2026

05/06/2026

If you are looking for a Primary Care Provider then come see Dr Jeffrey Dobbins at 411 South Pine St in Deridder. Phone # 337-462-6070. Office hrs Monday thru Thursday 7:30-12:00, 1:00-4:00. And while you’re there stop by and say hi to Dallas.

04/28/2026

💰 The bill you get in the mail after a hospital visit is almost never an itemized bill. It's a summary. It lumps charges together and hides the detail you need to spot errors.

An itemized bill lists every procedure with a CPT code, which is the industry-standard identifier hospitals use to assign prices. That's what lets you see if something was billed twice, coded at a higher complexity than what was done, or charged for a service you never received.

Hospitals are legally required to send you an itemized bill within 30 days of your request under HIPAA. They just don't send it unless you ask.

The $1,300 average error figure comes from an Equifax analysis of hospital bills over $10,000. The Medical Billing Advocates of America estimates that roughly 3 out of 4 hospital bills contain at least one mistake.

One common error type is "unbundling." That's when a single procedure gets split into multiple smaller charges that add up to more than the bundled rate. Another is "upcoding," where a routine visit gets coded as a complex one.

After you get the itemized bill, compare it line by line to the Explanation of Benefits from your insurer. Mismatches between what the hospital charged and what your insurer processed are where most errors surface.

Many hospitals also have financial assistance and charity care programs for low- and moderate-income patients. They're not advertised. You have to ask.

04/18/2026

If you want to get rid of some extra weight then come see Dr Dobbins. No appointment needed. 411 S Pine St Deridder. Monday - Thursday 7:30-12:00, 1:00-4:00

04/10/2026

🏥 Medicare Part B went up to $202.90 a month in 2026 — a $17.90 increase from 2025.

That's the premium automatically deducted from your Social Security check if you're enrolled.

Part B doesn't have an annual out-of-pocket cap. Original Medicare (Parts A and B) has no maximum. You pay 20% of approved costs indefinitely after the deductible.

That's the gap that Medigap and Medicare Advantage plans exist to address.

The Part A hospital deductible is $1,736 per benefit period — not per year. A benefit period starts when you're admitted and resets after 60 consecutive days out of care.

If you're admitted twice in a year with no 60-day gap between stays, you pay the deductible twice.

Part D's annual out-of-pocket cap increased to $2,100 in 2026. If you take expensive medications, this cap is meaningful — once you hit it, you pay nothing for covered drugs for the rest of the year.

IRMAA is the hidden cost most people overlook. If your income was above $106,000 (single) or $212,000 (joint) in 2024, you'll pay higher Part B and Part D premiums in 2026. Medicare uses income from two years prior.The Part D late enrollment penalty is permanent. If you skip Part D when you're first eligible and don't have creditable drug coverage elsewhere, you pay 1% of the base premium for every month you were uncovered — for as long as you're enrolled.

04/08/2026

📊 In 2025, more than half of eligible Medicare beneficiaries with Parts A and B were enrolled in Medicare Advantage.

MA plans often attract enrollees with $0 additional premiums, extra benefits like dental or vision, and a built-in annual out-of-pocket cap for Part A and B services — protections Original Medicare does not include on its own.

One major tradeoff is prior authorization: Medicare Advantage plans may require plan approval for certain services, while Original Medicare generally requires prior authorization far less often.

MedPAC estimates Medicare will spend about 20% more in 2025 for MA enrollees than it would for those same beneficiaries in traditional Medicare, due in part to how risk-adjusted payments work and the incentive for plans to document diagnoses completely.

CMS has proposed only a 0.09% average payment increase for MA plans in 2027, down sharply from the 5.06% increase finalized for 2026. If payment growth stays that low, some plans could trim benefits, raise member costs, or exit weaker markets.

One tradeoff many people miss before enrolling: if you switch from Medicare Advantage back to Original Medicare later, getting a Medigap policy can be difficult. In most states, outside protected enrollment windows, insurers can medically underwrite or deny Medigap coverage.

03/22/2026

Most people turning 65 think Medicare is free or close to it.

Then they get their first bill and the shock is real.

Here's what Medicare actually costs you in 2026.

Part A covers hospital and inpatient care. For most people who worked 40 or more quarters it has no monthly premium. But it has a $1,736 deductible per benefit period, and here's the part that catches people off guard — that's per benefit period, not per year. If you're hospitalized twice in a year for separate issues you could be hit with that deductible twice.

Part B covers doctors, outpatient surgery, preventative care, and lab tests. The standard premium is $202.90 per month and higher earners pay even more through IRMAA surcharges. The annual deductible is $283 and after that you pay 20% of the Medicare approved amount for every service.

That 20% is where it gets dangerous.

Part B has NO out of pocket maximum. None. If you have a $100,000 outpatient procedure Medicare pays $80,000 and you owe $20,000 out of your own pocket with absolutely no cap on your exposure.

This is exactly why most people on original Medicare buy a Medigap supplement policy to cover that 20% gap.

Without it you're one serious diagnosis away from a five figure medical bill that Medicare won't touch.

The biggest Medicare mistake I see isn't picking the wrong plan. It's not understanding how the costs actually work until it's too late to change anything.

Learn this before you need it.