Dental Insurance

     I was debating on whether or not to write about our latest battle, but I figured why not since we have a good ending.  About three years ago, Andy and I decided to take out dental insurance through our school district, and until about a month ago, we hadn't used it.  I know, big waste of money on our part.  Well, little did I know that our insurance is/was actually HORRIBLE!  I am rather irritated with the agent representing our school for not explaining in full detail the difference between the low plan and high plan.  My understanding was that the low plan was better for patients who were just doing preventive care like cleanings, x-rays, etc. and the high plan for major dental work like crowns and root canals.  Oh no, not my insurance.  The low plan is actually horrible all the way around.  You pay this high premium to find out that you will still owe money to the dentist for your preventive care even if the dentist is in-network.  I was and still am very angry about this!
      We wanted to support local business and see a dentist in our own town.  Great idea, until I learned just how crappy our insurance is.  I explained to the receptionist that our insurance would be out-of-network and that I needed to know an estimate of what we would be paying out-of-pocket because I didn't want to look up a month from now and owe them $500+.  I was reassured more than once (because I called back the next day) that most patients pay only $8-10 more than what their out-of-network insurance would cover.  Great, I can do $8-10 more.  So, Andy and I go to our first appointment which consists of x-rays and an evaluation done by the dentist.  Good news, I had no cavities and Andy had just one!!  We are pretty blessed considering we both hadn't been to the dentist in probably 10 years.  We received an estimated cost to have the cavity filled and the cleaning, and everything looked great.  We weren't going to pay much out-of-pocket, and we would both have clean teeth.  Ha!  Then I received my EOB from the insurance company the night before we were to have our cleanings and the cavity filled.  To make a long story short, it was going to cost us more money for the x-rays, evaluations, and teeth cleanings than we paid in insurance for the entire year.  This wasn't including the cost of the filling.  We're talking hundreds of dollars out-of-pocket.  You have no idea how upset we were.  We loved the dentist and loved the office staff.
      The next morning which is the morning of our second appointment, I called the office and had to cancel.  I hate doing things like that because I know it puts the office staff in a bind since we pretty much took up their entire morning of appointments.  At this point, we had a much better understanding of our insurance, and we had no choice but to cancel.  Apparently, the dentist office  has a computer program that estimates the cost of your work based on the average insurance company, and had our insurance not been so awful, the program would have probably been accurate.  Thankfully, we have found a private practice close to home that does accept our insurance.  We are waiting until our new insurance kicks in to have the cleanings done since they will be covered at 100%, but Andy will have his cavity filled in two weeks.
       Now, the awesome part.  We love good customer service and will sing your company's praise if you can offer excellent customer service.  AT&T has the most horrible customer service ever.  We love Oakley and Victoria's Secret though!!  This dentist office that we had to cancel on provided us with some awesome customer service.  Today we received the bill for our x-rays and evaluations...  They made an adjustment to our bill, and we only have to pay half of it!  How awesome is that!!  I am really appreciative of this since I probably wouldn't have ever gone here had I known the whole truth about my insurance.  But, this is why I love supporting local business because they truly understand and want help the members of their community.  I love it when God sends little blessings like this!  He always watches over us, and we are amazed and grateful because we don't deserve it.