Dear Financial
Assistance Representative:
I recently had my first dental emergency. I found myself
in sudden and intense pain like I had never experienced before and I needed
help quickly. The handful of visits I’d made to Evil Dental were consistently
disturbing and this occasion was no different, so imagine how overjoyed I was to
get an appointment at your Saturn location just minutes from my home. I am
disabled and I have Medicare with Medicaid, so I made sure to tell the person
who booked my appointment to prevent a misunderstanding.
I learned that I had to decide between pulling a tooth or
having a root canal. I’ve never had either and I didn’t have a lot of time to
decide, but both of the trained professionals who looked at it (Saturn and Evil)
counseled me to save the tooth. So that’s what I did.
After it was over, the dentist told me that I couldn’t
come back and be a regular patient if I didn’t pay the bill. I understood that
a root canal required multiple visits to complete and I was pretty shaken up by
the whole experience that the idea of not having an agreeable, reliable dentist
scared me. After all, that was part of the reason this happened in the first
place. I used my “emergencies only” credit card and paid the entire bill before
I left to ensure that wouldn’t be an issue.
I went back for a second appointment some weeks later and I
told the dentist first thing that I couldn’t possibly use my emergency credit
card again and that I would need help with a care credit account or payment
plan. I also said that a dentist should be able to connect his patients with
the resources they need to access his services. He didn’t give me any
information, but he did go in and do a “temporary filling.” I thought that’s
what I left with last time. The assistant set up another appointment for me
while I was still in the exam room but I still don’t understand where I am with
regard to the remaining steps in this procedure or coverage/payment for those
visits. It is my understanding that none of this is covered by my Medicare plan
or by Medicaid.
Apologies for the long story but I like to be thorough. If
you would like to contact me, my number is (716) 865-4092 and my email is cindyloohoo@yahoo.com.
Thank you for your consideration.
