Aspen Dental- Scam?!

Aspen Dental- Scam?

I am 29 and I had to get a full upper denture, it has been nothing less than a painful experience. To start, they were all nice when I went in and came up with a treatment plan, went over the insurance coverage and even gave me a 5% discount for paying my portion ($1,680.00) in advance. It seemed great, until the day of the extractions. I got a lady who did not speak english to well, spend 4 hours in the chair getting teeth pulled. She numbed me only to walk away for about 20 mins and then started working, even after I told her I wasnt numb anymore. After 4 hours of gripping the chair and the assistant urging her to give me more numbing shots, I looked like I went 25 rounds with a boxer. Now I get a bill stating I owe another 1,200.00 that no one can explain. My EOB from the INS says they owe me 1,000, however in the true "Aspen Shuffle" as I now dub it, I get a new answer and new person each time I call, just like their dentists. They run more of a dental farm than dental office.

I would call the office and get a ledger from them which would show all the services (charges) and all your payments and the insurance payments. Then I would compare the EOBs you have received from your insurance company to their bill. The easiest way to do this is by date of service. So total the charge for each date of service, then subtract out your payment, your insurance payment, and any contract adjustments. (If your dentist is contracted with your insurance company they can only charge the allowable,PDP,Contract allowance,or UCR fee- the difference between their fee and the contracted fee is a write off and you are not responsible to pay it.) After you do your calculations if all the services have been paid for and there is a credit the office owes you, then I would contact them with that information. Due to the "Aspen Shuffle" you may not get very far, this is when I would contact your insurance company, they can then do a 3-way call with you and their billing department to get your bill all worked out.

If your insurance denied something or did not pay as estimated then you could still have a balance, but after doing the math you will know for sure.

It sounds very frustrating, I hope that helps and good luck!