Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
I really like my oral surgeon and his medical staff. They’re very good at what they do and very nice and professional about it. However, his administrative staff leaves a lot to be desired.
When I scheduled my appointment for yesterday’s procedure, the girl who apparently handles the insurance claims informed me that my insurance is out-of-network and that she would have to call them to find out if they would cover the procedure. She said she’d get back to me and let me know how much would be covered. I never heard back from her. She never called me, left me a voice mail, sent me a letter – nothing. Having not heard from her, I pretty much forgot about it and went in yesterday expecting to pay around a $200 copayment, as has been the case both previous times I’ve had this surgery.
Imagine my surprise when the girl at the front desk told me she needed to collect $2,006.00 from me before the procedure. I said, “Wow, that’s a lot more than I was expecting. Is my insurance not covering this?” The insurance chick was sitting behind her, turned around, and said in a rather nasty tone, “We spoke about this after I called your insurance company. They are not in our network and you have to pay 100% up front and then submit a claim to them and they might reimburse you.” Now, that really pissed me off, because she most certainly did NOT speak with me after she called them, and I told her, “Okay, but we did not speak about this, actually. You never informed me of this.” She just stared at me for a moment and said nothing, and then turned her back on me, leaving the receptionist (who was very nice) looking rather like a deer in the headlights.
Fortunately for me, my financial position is such that I *could* fork over two grand on a moment’s notice without any problem and was still able to have the surgery. A few years ago, that would have been a real problem for me, though, as I suspect it would be for a lot of people. What if I hadn’t been able to pay that much up front? Would I have been sent home and had to forego the surgery?
I’m seriously considering writing a letter to my surgeon about this. Not only is it bullshit that this girl never bothered to inform me how much I’d have to pay up front, but her nasty attitude when I asked why they were asking me for two grand was completely uncalled for, as was her refusal to admit to or apologize for her oversight. I’d like to continue seeing this surgeon for future TMJ needs, but if his administrative staff is going to treat me like that, I’ll have to seriously consider going elsewhere.
I’ll post later today or tomorrow about how the actual surgery went, but as you can see, I survived.
When I scheduled my appointment for yesterday’s procedure, the girl who apparently handles the insurance claims informed me that my insurance is out-of-network and that she would have to call them to find out if they would cover the procedure. She said she’d get back to me and let me know how much would be covered. I never heard back from her. She never called me, left me a voice mail, sent me a letter – nothing. Having not heard from her, I pretty much forgot about it and went in yesterday expecting to pay around a $200 copayment, as has been the case both previous times I’ve had this surgery.
Imagine my surprise when the girl at the front desk told me she needed to collect $2,006.00 from me before the procedure. I said, “Wow, that’s a lot more than I was expecting. Is my insurance not covering this?” The insurance chick was sitting behind her, turned around, and said in a rather nasty tone, “We spoke about this after I called your insurance company. They are not in our network and you have to pay 100% up front and then submit a claim to them and they might reimburse you.” Now, that really pissed me off, because she most certainly did NOT speak with me after she called them, and I told her, “Okay, but we did not speak about this, actually. You never informed me of this.” She just stared at me for a moment and said nothing, and then turned her back on me, leaving the receptionist (who was very nice) looking rather like a deer in the headlights.
Fortunately for me, my financial position is such that I *could* fork over two grand on a moment’s notice without any problem and was still able to have the surgery. A few years ago, that would have been a real problem for me, though, as I suspect it would be for a lot of people. What if I hadn’t been able to pay that much up front? Would I have been sent home and had to forego the surgery?
I’m seriously considering writing a letter to my surgeon about this. Not only is it bullshit that this girl never bothered to inform me how much I’d have to pay up front, but her nasty attitude when I asked why they were asking me for two grand was completely uncalled for, as was her refusal to admit to or apologize for her oversight. I’d like to continue seeing this surgeon for future TMJ needs, but if his administrative staff is going to treat me like that, I’ll have to seriously consider going elsewhere.
I’ll post later today or tomorrow about how the actual surgery went, but as you can see, I survived.
posted by Catherine at 12:21 PM
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