unpaid dentist bill (credit report, New York, collections, settlement)

[gus030]

it is simply not a matter of paying the money, I can pay this amount its not an issue

its the fact that I am stubborn and I don't believe this dentist deserves this money

in addition to what I mentioned he did bad work and forced me to get more work done which I went to a different more reliable dentist for

I know its extremely difficult to prove malpractice so i'm not going to even bother with that

I just want to hassle this guy as much as possible to get paid

If I were to file a small claims suit regarding this bill can they still submit it to collections prior to the court case being resolved? i really don't care if I lose in court I just want him to have to waste some time having to deal with this

[Meemur]

Originally Posted by gus030

I just want to hassle this guy as much as possible to get paid

Write up your story and post it on websites where they have local reviews of dentists. That will hurt his business. Just be honest. Don't make false claims.

I'm not sure you can post in small claims court for that.

[Kibbiekat]

You would have been better off to take it up with the office manager at the time. If you had a legit complaint, they probably would have given you a discount. Yes, they can send it to collections, and yes, it can hurt your credit.

Originally Posted by Kibbiekat

You would have been better off to take it up with the office manager at the time. If you had a legit complaint, they probably would have given you a discount. Yes, they can send it to collections, and yes, it can hurt your credit.

This.

You've let some minor issue fester for a year.

Now you want to sue and drag it out even longer? Why? Is your time worth nothing?

You being ignorant of your insurance policy and not even bothering to find out what was going in your mouth ahead of time does not somehow mean you don't have to pay. Fork over the money and take a little bit of personal responsibility in the future.

Yes, you can drag it out. Yes, you can waste his time. And you'll lose and be out a bunch of court costs and the measly $100 you owe.

[Kibbiekat]

Pay the bill, chalk this up to a learning experience.

[Rubi3]

I wouldn't like what he did either. He should have given you the choice. Many dentists would have asked. Are you willing to pay half of it? If so, ask him if he is willing to split it with you and drop it. Tell him he should have given you the choice. He knows he didn't and should have.

[patsfanboston]

I would be ticked, too, but here's the thing; it's the patient's responsibility to know every little thing about their insurance coverage. Most medical and dental offices will verify your benefits for you and pass on some of that information to you, but realistically, the office manager or billing representative is not going to sit on the phone with your insurance company for an hour prior to your visit verifying the exact coverage level of any possible procedure or material they might or might not use during your appointment. So, yes, sometimes little details like the varying coverage for white vs. silver fillings gets lost until the claim is processed.

Anyway, this is not just an issue of the dentist sending this bill to collections, which, yes, he can do. Your contract with your dental insurance provider requires you to pay the assigned patient responsibility on all claims. If his office is audited and they find that you never paid your co-insurance, they can drop your coverage; they can even go back and bill you for visits they have paid for since this breach of contract occurred.

Also, since the $100 is the allowed amount designated by your insurance company, your dentist can't accept $50. He'll take it, if you send it, since it's better than $0, but the fact is that your insurance company determined that you owe $100, not your dentist.

Because you left this for a year, you are probably SOL in terms of disputing this with your insurance company. Generally, you have 90 to 120 days from the date of service to initiate a dispute.

If it were me, I'd just pay the $100.

[Pitt Chick]

Lucky you!
White fillings would have cost me way more than $100.

Since you failed to know what your insurance did and did not cover, and since you failed to inform your dentist what you wanted, you really should just pay the $100. It is not worth ruining your credit over....

[midwestlaxer]

Originally Posted by gus030

This was one year ago, I've been to other dentists 5-6 times after this occurred

you've been to the dentist 7 times in the last year? I imagine you are out of pocket by now...what's another $100?

[Lacerta]

Some dentists just do white by default, you have to specifically ask for silver. My dentist (who I've been going to see since I first grew teeth) now does all fillings with white unless you ask for silver. Each type has plusses and minuses, but in addition to the cosmetic aspect, the white fillings create a stronger tooth overall than silver (almost as strong as an unfilled tooth), are less likely to break in the future (although they do wear down faster in some people), and they are less hot/cold sensitive than silver fillings.

I find it surprising you have never heard of white fillings. They've been around for more than 30 years now. I'm 36 and most people of my parent's generation have a whole mouth full of silver fillings. But most people my age have a lot fewer cavities overall (due to, among other things, teeth sealing, more fluoride in the water, and better tooth care in general), and those fillings they do have are typically white. I had a cavity on my baby teeth, which would have been around 30 years ago, and I remember them telling my mom that they were just going to use silver since it was cheaper and the tooth would fall out soon anyway, so there was no reason to spend more on the white. So the white was around then, but I don't think it was in popular use until about 20 years ago.