Health "Care" Providers...

Having just moved to a new city only a year and a half ago, and finally having established some benefits, April and May months are labeled Take Care of Myself months. I have began the search for doctors, dentists, eye doctors, etc. Found has been my primary doctor, after a four hour wait in her office. She did apologize for running so late that day, and as they took care of my insurance, were very kind, and were able to help me out with my second Hep A vaccine (it's taken forever to find someone willing to give me the second shot... hello, I work with the homeless, kind of a necessity...) I have decided to stay with her as my primary doctor.

My real healthcare woes in LA come from attempting to find a dentist. Let me preface this whole conversation by revealing that out of my whole family, my "health file" is probably the thinnest. I am the healthiest in my family. I have only ever had one cavity in my life (see my blog entry entitled "star teethment"), I have gone to visit the doctor twice a year every year since I was a small child, and I take great care of my teeth. In January I had gone back to the upscale dentist who did my filling last year for a normal cleaning, only to discover that he is not in my healthcare network. Translation: he is super expensive! It was time for me to find a dentist in LA. This was a scary proposition. I mean, my dentist in Michigan that I have had since I was a child gives me a toothbrush every time I come in that says, "Smile, Dr. Mead loves you." So I was not prepared to search for a new dentist.

I finally found someone who would take my insurance, and let me tell you, they were really rude over the phone with regards to my insurance and even what I was needing on my visit. I just want to find someone in LA who will fit me for a nightguard (sign of stress, I realize) for the price that my insurance lists. But LA is a big place...

Anyway, a few weeks ago, I let them know that I was covered under blue cross, and they said that they had contacted my insurance, and my insurance would not cover the nightguard. I called my insurance back and asked if they would cover the nightguard, and they said that they would. So I called the dentist's office back and let them know that my insurance did cover the nightguard. They told me that if I came in I would have to pay a $50.00 deductible. I quickly let them know that I had already paid a deductible for the year and I should not have to pay. They checked back with my insurance, and called back and said that I still owed the deductible.

I called my insurance... long story short, I finally get to the office, and they tell me that they will have to charge me $50.00 service charge or something shady like that. I should have run the other way, I later found out. But how was I supposed to know? The only other dentist in my life I've ever had is such a wonderful man, he gives T-shirts to kids who come in on their spring break that have toothbrush palm trees on them. I still have mine.

I signed some paperwork, and then the financial manager of the dentist calls me in and said that he was the one that makes sure the dentist gets paid. Like I wasn't going to pay the dentist? The thought never crossed my mind. What followed was a battle of wits, which I clearly lost. The manager and the dentist came in, looked at copies of my most recent X-rays, and told me that it looked like I had four new cavities. Which could not be the case, as those x-rays were looked at by a certified dentist three months earlier who said I was cavity free. (too bad he wasn't in my network of care... I like him...). They then laughed at me for still using a retainer, said that they thought I just liked wearing the retainer and that's why I was using it, and proceded to tell me that I was too stressed out, and that someone my age shouldn't need a nightguard. But they did tell me that I needed one, so that's good, I guess.

The financial manager, when telling me that my insurance doesn't cover the nightguard, after I told him that I called him back and they did, told me that my insurance was a liar and that they were "sticky." What?! How unprofessional! I wanted to cry, I had never felt so degraded at the dentist's office before now. At the end the receptionist also questioned my knowledge of what really happened at my January non-covered appointment when she said, "It shows here on your insurance that you've never had your teeth cleaned." After I told that they had indeed been cleaned in January, she replied, "Well, I guess it's whatever you say..." How would I not know when someone is cleaning my teeth?! What in the world?

I left their office and proceeded to file a complaint with my insurance. And as I spoke with someone over the phone, they revealed that I should never have had to pay the $50.00 the dentist charged me. The man was so nice, but he basically said something like, "your health care is in your charge. You need to get copies of all paperwork that you sign at a dentist's office, and if you are uncomfortable with the office itself, you need to run the other way. If they still are not listening to you, you need to have them call us, your insurers, while you are present."

I am not going to try to get my money back, because I don't ever want to talk to those callous people again. But it is disturbing to me, that I have to be on my guard against a healthcare provider who is supposed to be providing a service to me-- who might try to swindol me out of my money instead and claim that I have problems with my teeth when in fact I really do not. What has come to us in this country? Or at least the city of LA?

I am now starting to understand what it really means to be searching for a helath care provider in a responsible way. A friend, after hearing my woes, recommended another dentist to me, and so I went ahead and made an appointment after of course finding that they were in my network of care. But then I went online and read some horrible reviews of this particular dentist's practice. So I actually called the dentist back and lied to them about my work schedule changing so that I could get out of my appointment! I believe, after careful perusing of the internet (God bless Yelp LA) I have found a dentist whom I feel comfortable with contacting. But look at what it took to get me there. What a huge learning experience for me. I now feel that I can go to battle in any doctor's office. This happened for a reason, and while I wish I could put that horrible dentist out of practice, he has a family too and provides services to people who must like him. I must forgive, forget, and move on, but move on knowing that I am in control of my own care. And if I get a fishy feeling about someone, as the insurance agent handling my complaint noticed, I have a right to walk away, no questions asked!