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My Journal of a Thousand Dental Woes
Aug. 1st, 2007 01:58 pmThis isn't exactly current, like in the last week, but ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
maestro_live just reminded me—because he had a dental appt. this morning— that I hate frigging dentists for reasons wholly unrelated to most people's fear and loathing.
Case in point: My dentist's office sent me a bill for a balance due on the replacement of an old filling. Mind you, my dental insurance is pretty standard, common carrier, fairly understandable if you read the booklet. My plan has four categories (as is typical) and different percentages of coverage/co-pay and/or deductibles on each category. So when I got that filling redone, the desk folk told me the amount of my co-pay percentage, I paid it, and that was that. Then they filed a claim for the balance with the insurance company, which paid—as is also typical—a discounted amount of the bill. And then the fucking dentist's office tried to bill me for the rest.
When the insurance company sent me a 'we paid out' statement, it explicitly said on the bottom, 'You should only pay $xx.xx for these services'—and that amount was less than I had already paid on my initial visit.
Now it may be perfectly legal for them to charge me the standard percent co-pay based on the full fee; but I'll be damned if they're going to come back and tell me 'The insurance company didn't pay your full claim so you owe it.' In fact, I'm not sure it's legal to charge me a percentage of one amount and then settle on a discounted amount for insurance purposes (hence the disparity between the amount I paid and the amount on the ins. co.'s ltr.).
I called the dentist's office and got voicemail. I left a message recounting all of the above, and said that their billing me more than my allowable co-pay was quite obviously fraudulent and they had just better remove that charge and clean up their billing practices if they wanted to stay out of court.
I think I need to find a new dentist now.
[Ok, that's not exactly a thousand woes... I do still have various damage to my front teeth thanks to the frequent slippage of the wobbly hands of 225-year-old, perpetually drunk Dr. Ingemi (whomeloquentwthrage dubbed 'Dr. Injure Me') on Bellevue Avenue in Hammonton, New Jersey. And as of my last filling by Dr. Fraud my molars don't sit the same way they used to. And my two crowns are going to need replaced soon (they's been there maybe 25 years). Only 996 to go.]
maestro_live just reminded me—because he had a dental appt. this morning— that I hate frigging dentists for reasons wholly unrelated to most people's fear and loathing.Case in point: My dentist's office sent me a bill for a balance due on the replacement of an old filling. Mind you, my dental insurance is pretty standard, common carrier, fairly understandable if you read the booklet. My plan has four categories (as is typical) and different percentages of coverage/co-pay and/or deductibles on each category. So when I got that filling redone, the desk folk told me the amount of my co-pay percentage, I paid it, and that was that. Then they filed a claim for the balance with the insurance company, which paid—as is also typical—a discounted amount of the bill. And then the fucking dentist's office tried to bill me for the rest.
When the insurance company sent me a 'we paid out' statement, it explicitly said on the bottom, 'You should only pay $xx.xx for these services'—and that amount was less than I had already paid on my initial visit.
Now it may be perfectly legal for them to charge me the standard percent co-pay based on the full fee; but I'll be damned if they're going to come back and tell me 'The insurance company didn't pay your full claim so you owe it.' In fact, I'm not sure it's legal to charge me a percentage of one amount and then settle on a discounted amount for insurance purposes (hence the disparity between the amount I paid and the amount on the ins. co.'s ltr.).
I called the dentist's office and got voicemail. I left a message recounting all of the above, and said that their billing me more than my allowable co-pay was quite obviously fraudulent and they had just better remove that charge and clean up their billing practices if they wanted to stay out of court.
I think I need to find a new dentist now.
[Ok, that's not exactly a thousand woes... I do still have various damage to my front teeth thanks to the frequent slippage of the wobbly hands of 225-year-old, perpetually drunk Dr. Ingemi (whom
eloquentwthrage dubbed 'Dr. Injure Me') on Bellevue Avenue in Hammonton, New Jersey. And as of my last filling by Dr. Fraud my molars don't sit the same way they used to. And my two crowns are going to need replaced soon (they's been there maybe 25 years). Only 996 to go.]
