Hey all, hoping I can get some assistance here. I've gotten some weird info from my dentist's billing department which I find highly concerning.
Background
I recently had a chipped tooth, and went to a local dentistry group to get it repaired. The office is highly recommended and all dentists are covered by insurance and are rated appropriately (all 8/10 on insurance's website).
They initially presented me with a treatment plan, including a ton of stuff I didn't want & felt was very expensive (~$500 for a 'lazer' cleaning for example). I opted to just fix the tooth, and they said it would be cosmetic and not covered by insurance. I paid out of pocket with no issue.
Cut to 2.5 weeks later when my insurance gives me a claim for an additional ~$500, including the filling I already paid for. The claim lists numerous services not listed on my treatment plan (including 4 $90 photos). I called the insurance company and they told me to call the dentist because they didn't really have any input at this stage.
DETAILS
The dentist's billing department insisted that this wasn't really a bill, until I explained that it had a 'pay now' button that directed me to a payment page listing their dentist and office address. Billing said, according to their contract, that they had to submit all claims to the insurance regardless of whether it was paid up front or not.
They said they'd never seen a client receive a bill, and that they would refund anything covered by insurance, and write off anything not paid by the insurance. This is the point where alarm bells began ringing, since this sounds suspiciously like insurance fraud (billing for services not rendered, and not collecting payment for stuff not covered).
Does this seem normal to anyone else? I don't have a lot of experience in the medical insurance world, but this reads like fraud. Any help would be appreciated!
Submitted May 17, 2021 at 10:16PM by Fictionalpoet https://ift.tt/3ylIStO
