I need some advice in dealing with my dentist. I recently had an initial appointment, followed by extraction of 4 wisdom teeth. The total bill was about
$900.00. I paid for the first appointment in cash (credit card) because of
"office policy for new patients". They were supposed to submit the claim
to the insurance company. 3 weeks later, the insurance company still had
received no claim. Turns out, the receptionist "forgot" to put the claim
number on the form. She supposedly resubmitted the form, along with the
new form for my wisdom teeth. Again, three weeks later, the insurance
company has no record of a claim ever being submitted.
To make a bad story worse, the receptionist "forgot" to apply the money I
initially paid to my balance. After a couple of letters, they finally
conceded to credit my account for the money, but they now want me to pay
on the new balance. I do not want to pay them any more money if they
aren't even submitting the claims correctly! I am scheduled to return
to the office next week for a followup visit. I do not really want to
deal with the abusive manner of the receptionist when I go
(it seems that if you question the filing of claims,
she gets very verbally abusive and defensive). Needless to say, I will not
be returning to this dentist, but I still have 4 unhealed teeth to attend
to in the meantime.
Is there anything I can do? Is this insurance fraud?
