I have had Liberty Dental Insurance for several years and they advertised both Rocky Ridge Dental and Lincoln Hills Dental as offices that accepted Liberty Dental Insurance. When I went to Rocky Ridge, they recommended a filling and / or crown several years ago. When they gave me the price, they refused to honor the insurance pricing. Art, the office manager, said, "This is the price and if you want service you have to pay our price. "I just got mad and walked out.
I called Liberty Dental Insurance several times and talked to at least 4 people and all confirmed that I was right... I was to pay the co-pay, plus an upgrade fee only... They offered to change me to another dentist. I did that and found Lincoln Hills Dental... Little did I know it was the same company! I also upgraded my plan.
When I got pricing from Lincoln Hills Dental, Art, the same office manager appeared. Again, he refused to explain the costs, and refused to discuss the insurance. I e-mailed 3 times and got no answer.
This morning, when I called Liberty Dental Insurance, I talked to a man named Hugo who claimed that I was to pay a co-pay, an upgrade, plus the cost of gold. He claimed that the dentist can set the price of the material at whatever they want. This was the first time anyone ever said this! He agreed to call Art at Lincoln Hills Dental and get an answer.
In the mean time, Art called me and claimed that the dentist had decided that they did not want me as a client. He claimed they sent a letter to me and to the insurance company in January and this is why he had not answered me in March.
He said the reason was because of a comment I made while in the office... When the dentist said I may need a root canal. She said that she would not know until she took off a crown and looked. (I said, "Oh yes... The root canal is a very popular money maker these days I guess.") Art was ready to schedule the crown and the root canal immediately. He claimed that they had a "little thingy that can go between the teeth and gum and that it was all squishy under there."
I decided to get a second opinion and was told that I did not need a root canal. If I did, he would be able to see it on the X rays OR I would be in terrible pain... Neither was true! As for the crown... He said it looked fine as well.
As for the letter that Art claimed to have sent: Neither the insurance company nor I have received any letter. When I called back to get the date of the letter, the receptionist claimed that Art was the only one who had access to my file and that he would call me back tomorrow.
When I called Liberty Dental Insurance back, I talked to Kimmey. She reconfirmed that my original understanding of pricing was correct and that Hugo was mistaken. She said that Liberty Dental Insurance did not get any letter from Lincoln Hills Dental. She suggested that they change me to another dentist... (Is this the game? They just shuffle you to another dentist?) I can only conclude that Art just decided today that they did not want to work with me because I was forcing them to abide by their legal agreement with the insurance company and the lower pricing that would entail.
Further, as for the root canal... I have no idea... But it seems suspicious that they would make such a claim when another dentist saw no problem.
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