ComplaintsforRubin Family Dentistry & Associates, LLC

• Initial Complaint

  09/12/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I was a new patient to Rubin family dentistry back in March 2022. When I called them to schedule an initial appointment, I asked them if they accept ***** Dental insurance to which they replied yes. The day I arrived for the appointment, they asked me for my insurance card and I didn't have my insurance card with me so I told them if I could show them a picture of the card and they told me to email them the card instead which I did then they told me that I was all set. After that day, they never mentioned anything about my insurance and I kept going to get the fillings done. They never discussed the charges for my treatments with me. It wasn't until one of the dentist told me that I need a root canal on one my of tooth so i decided to call my insurance and see if they'll cover the full or partial cost of the root canal and ***** asked me if I was told by a dentist to get a root canal done to which I replied yes and then they asked me where i've been going to get dental services and I told them that I was going to Rubin and they told me that Rubin was out of network and that if I get anything done, i'll be required to pay everything out of pocket. I called Rubin to get an explanation for this and they told me that the image I sent for my insurance was so small that they couldn't see if the plan said PPO or DMO and they don't accept DMO and they blamed me for not clarifying. I decided to email the owner and he got back to me stating that he will only charge me 50% of the cost. Though, I didn't want to pay as it wasn't my fault, I ended up paying $579.50 on 4/26 assuming that that's all i'll be required to pay. I ended up receiving another bill in July of $168 and this time I'm not paying anything. I already paid for something that wasn't my fault to begin with and as Dr. Rubin mentioned in his email that they will send me a final bill so i'm not sure where this new bill is coming from. I've attached Dr. Rubin's reply and picture of the card I sent them originally.

  Business response

  09/21/2022

  Response to complaint:  We have been in touch with the patient multiple times to resolve this.  She then appointed a representative to take over her complaint whom we also communicated with multiple times.  The patient called our office to ask we if we participated with *****.  She spoke with our office manager who told her ***** is one of the plans we participate with but there are many different ***** plans and she should definitely confirm with her insurance that we are participating.  This is our consistent response to all patients who inquire over the phone that they must confirm we are listed in network with their insurance.  At their first visit, all patients, including the complainant, sign a document telling them that they are ultimately responsible for verifying their insurance and benefits.  The patient in this case would normally be responsible for her full balance.  However, we try to go above and beyond and resolve any misunderstandings.  At the patients first visit, she did not have her insurance card on her but she was able to provide a blurred digital image.  On this card, it did say DMO on it, but our front desk employee did not catch it through the blurred image.  So ultimately, the patient never confirmed we were in network as we recommended and we also did not see that she did not have a PPO plan which we do participate with.  We felt for the patient in this case and tried to go above and beyond by giving her a 50% courtesy on all existing treatment.  She agreed to this.  We made clear to her and her representative that we were still waiting for confirmation from her insurance on outstanding claims but once we receive them back confirming there was indeed no coverage, we would honor the 50% agreement and send her the final statement.  We even gave the exact written amount to her that we expect her final balance to be $168 and this was exactly what it came out to be.  Now that the patient received this final balance, it appears she forgot all previous communications and agreements and is trying to get out of her responsibility.  We are happy to provide all email communications to the BBB that we have had with the patient and her appointed representative.  It is very surprising to see this complaint on the BBB that states she is "not sure where this new bill is coming from."  We have already given her an extremely generous 50% reduction but we cannot be taken advantage of and offer any more at this time.  Please let us know if there is anything else we can help with and provide for you.  We wish her the best of luck and hope this can be resolved quickly.  

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩