This is a very small dental office that accepts HMO dental insurance in order to obtain new patients. I was assigned to this dentist as my primary dentist and could not go anywhere else. The problem is, this dentist asks you to sign a form that says that if the insurance does not pay them, you must pay. Fair enough. BUT, HMO insurance never 'pays' the dentist in the traditional sense. They pay a pre-contracted amount for each patient. So if you have a normal procedure, like a filling, you are obligated to pay the full amount of the bill even though your insurance says you owe zero and your schedule of benefits says you are covered for the service. And, the office is very expensive, they charge about 30% more than what the insurance allows for each procedure.
Bottom line: they accept insurance to get patients in the door but then don't honor the insurance by drawing up their own paperwork that is cleaverly disguised as normal things one must sign. The kicker is that 9 months after I disputed my bill they sent my account to a collection agency without ever sending me more than a single bill. No late notice, nothing. I specifically asked them as we were going back and forth through the insurance to please first contact me if they are going to send me to collections. They assured me they would. Now I have a bill from a collection agency that is way higher than any bill I ever got from the dentist.
I have perfect credit otherwise and have never EVER had this sort of trouble with a medical office. Plus every time I call the secretary is very rude. They will not release the paper I signed until I pay a $15 fee. Money hungry, rude, and strange. There are plenty of other pleasant and honest dentists out there, no need to waste your money and frustration on this one!
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