ComplaintsforBright Smile Dental

• Initial Complaint

  09/28/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  -Multiple dates - services from April 2023-June 2023 -I was a client of this dentist pre-covid, and they were in-network with my dental insurance at that time.

  I did not go to the dentist during covid and resumed dental visits this year. The dentist provided two estimated Proposed Treatment Plans with 'in-network' costs, and I pre-paid the amount they said I would owe out of my pocket. ($810.50) The dentist did the dental work, and then sent me a bill, stating they were out-of-network, and I still owe an additional $1,422.30 on top of the $810.50 I already paid. This was a complete bait and switch.

  -My insurance covers up to $2,000 on an in-network dentist, but only has a $1,000 max for out-of-network. (plus in-network covers higher percentages.) Since the treatment plans they provided were in-network costs, it also did not disclose I would hit the $1,000 max quickly and be charged additionally for the remainder.

  -The dentist did offer to knock $500 off my bill, but they should knock off $1,000, at a minimum. If they had represented themselves as out-of-network originally, I would have gone to another dentist that was in-network and had a $2,000 coverage.

  Business response

  11/02/2023

  Hello *****,

  I'd like to apologize for the delayed response. I have attached Mr. ******* signed and agreed upon treatment plans, the treatment plans are an estimate of insurance benefit and the patient understands that any unpaid insurance benefit is the responsibility of the patient. We indicated to our patients in 2019 that our office was no longer in network with *******, but we still accept the patients at a out of network fee schedule. We still have many patients with ******* insurance that choose to see us due to our quality of service. Our department manager did file a $500 discount on Mr. ******* account as a courtesy since his insurance did not cover the portion at the amount they did first estimate. As of today 11/02/2023 patient **** ****** has had his wife ***** ****** call into our office to pay off the remaining balance of  $922.30 to avoid going to collections. If any questions arise please feel free to call us at ###-###-####.

  Warm regards, 

  Vivian

  Bright Smile Dental

  Customer response

  11/16/2023

  ***************
  We do not accept their response as resolution.

  In the company response, their language attempts to paint the fact that they offered $500 and we paid the balance as some kind of agreeable solution to this matter. That could not be further from the truth. We paid it because we were given no choice. They were threatening to send us to collections and tack on an additional 40% fee.
  
  It was never a matter of us not being able to pay the balance. It was a matter of them being misleading about being in-network with our insurance by continuing to provide treatment plans that clearly used in-network pricing for the estimates. That is their mistake, and we should not have to pay for that mistake or negligence on their part. We were always willing to pay what was agreed to on the treatment plans we signed. We even understand that there may be some of that plan that insurance will not cover, but a 280% increase is just nonsensical. That is either complete incompetence when calculating the projected cost of a treatment plan or intentionally deceptive.
  
  The treatment plan they provided clearly shows that they used the in-network pricing (90% coverage) when they did the calculation even though they knew they were no longer in-network. They did this for all treatments I had done in 2023. And, aside from the $500 deduction they offered, they still refuse to admit that they hold any responsibility in this matter. They continue to repeat the phrase “it is the customer responsibility to verify insurance”. The only fault I carry in this matter is trusting this company because of my 7-year relationship with them. I mistakenly thought I could trust the numbers they were giving since I had been able to trust them in the past. I didn’t realize they had new personnel that were incapable of doing their job properly. Even when shown where the issue was, they continue to blame the customer and threaten them with collections and fees.
  
  Thanks,
  ****
  **** ******
  ###-###-####

• Initial Complaint

  07/27/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  My wife looked for a dentist after we moved to a new home. She contacted Bright Smile Dental and provided our insurance information. The dental office indicated the insurance was accepted by the dental office. My wife went in on January 20, 2022 for a cleaning. She scheduled a follow up appointment and a subsequent appointment for our daughter which occurred on July 27, 2022. After my wife and daughter completed their appointment, the dental office indicated the insurance wasn't accepted for neither my wife nor daughter for any of the work performed. They provided my wife with a bill for $1351.80. My wife did not pay the bill and called me letting me know what happened. I contacted the dental office and spoke to Angie, the office manager. She emailed me a copy of the bill. In a subsequent email she also said the balance remaining with the dental office is $1511.20. So, I am actually unaware of exactly how much they want to collect. When I spoke to Angie on the phone, she told me that determining what insurance a dental practice accepts is the burden of the patient and not the responsibility of the dental office. I find that hard to believe. If a dental office says they accept the insurance and schedule an appointment not once, but 3 times, then they are liable for accepting their mistake. The customer should not have to come out of pocket to pay for the dental offices mistake. In an attempt to remedy the issue, Angie said she provided a 20% discount to the bill total I listed above. I have no problem paying what would normally be out of pocket after insurance coverage, but I don't feel I should pay any amount for the dental office making a mistake.

  Business response

  08/08/2022

  Complaint has been handled in office. Patient has been taken care of.

  Customer response

  08/10/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I accept the business's response to resolve this complaint
  

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