Quote Quoting sixsenuf2002
My family has BC/BS medical and dental insurance through his employment. The insurance covers teeth cleaning twice a year at 100%. Our dentist office set us up for a cleaning and told us we wouldn't have to pay anything because it's covered by our insurance. They did a full mouth debribement on us which is a cleaning with an ultrasonic tool. The dentist told both of us after the cleaning that we would need to come back for the 2nd part of the cleaning. Our insurance company won't pay for the cleaning now. We also got a bill from our dentist for the 2 cleanings. I went to the dentist office and told them that our insurance won't pay for the cleanings. The receptionist told me that we are responsible for whatever our insurance company doesn't pay. I know this and understand this but I feel we were deceived by our dentist office. They should have told us what type of cleaning they wanted to do on us and inform us that our insurance would not pay for it BEFORE they performed the services. That way we would have asked what the cost was and decide from there if we wanted it done or not. Now we have a bill for $144 that we don't agree with. What should I do about this? Since we were lied to about this cleaning, are we obligated to pay this? Thanks in advance! Michelle

You are responsible to pay. Your dentist is in the dental business, not the insurance business. It is up to you to know, beforehand, what your insurance will pay, and for what type of procedures. It's your insurance and it's your insurance contract. Read the policy.

Had you read the policy, and known the types of covered procedures, you could have said, "My insurance won't cover that type of procedure." Or, you could have said, "Before we start, could you please call my insurance company to confirm that your procedure is covered?"

Pay the doctor.