Can I vent for just a minute? Is anyone willing to listen to me whine?
I have been in tears twice today. And I'm not even PMSing! Do you ever get so frustrated and feel so helpless that you just...cry?
I have been in tears twice today. And I'm not even PMSing! Do you ever get so frustrated and feel so helpless that you just...cry?
Last night, I got a bill from my dentist's office for $782. My insurance denied coverage after I payed $900 out of pocket. $900 that we weren't expecting and certainly wasn't budgeted. Now we need to come up with another $800?!?! All for work that could have been spread out so that the insurance WOULD have paid. So I've had a bunch of work done that was inconvenient (4 separate 1-2 hour office visits, requiring child care each time) and remains uncomfortable to this day (I now have the JOY of a custom-fit mouthpiece at night to prevent me from grinding my teeth) AND the added bonus of an extra $800 bill.
I called the dentist's office to investigate and ended up breaking down in tears after finding out that they aren't willing to adjust the balance. Even though, in my opinion, this unexpected claim denial could have been prevented by more prodding by the dental employee.
Then I called the insurance company to find out WHAT ON EARTH and cried to that total stranger, too. So humiliating. When I got off the phone, Kaylin asked, "Mommy, why is your face all red?" Because I didn't realize that it's my responsibility to tell the dentist's office about the limitations (that I didn't know about!) for our cheap-o dental insurance, dear.
I complained about it on Facebook, saying, "Who needs diapers and food? Full bellies and clean butts are overrated," and an old co-worker (who I haven't seen in 5 years) is insisting on giving me a bunch of diapers that her son outgrew. It is so sweet that I want to cry...again. I'm not a charity case...I mean we're not losing our home or anything, but it's so cool to see how people step up when others are sucker punched with unexpected financial burdens.
The irony is that I'm preparing for a garage sale this weekend. I certainly don't have $800 worth of items for sale, but the money that was supposed to go toward our couples getaway (to San Francisco in a couple of months) is being robbed by stupid dental bills.
I'm so frustrated. Better after blabbering through this post, but still frustrated. "Would you like a first class vacation to Hawaii? A European getaway? A high def, 65" flat screen LED tv? New bedroom furniture? Four months groceries???" "No thanks...I'd rather pay my unnecessary dental bills. That's where I'd like to spend my $1700. Thanks anyway!"
Grrr.
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7 comments:
Oh honey, I hear ya! With semi-nationalized insurance here we don't get hit with those sorts of things (we just pay anywhere up to 53% in taxes on certain bands of our household income...grrrr!) but we DO get washing machines that break down and total electrical system failures in our 11-year-old BMW's that require damn expensive parts to repair. And even WITH having money set aside for such instances, you don't always have ENOUGH set aside for such instances.
Unexpected and just plain UNFAIR financial surprises like this should be classed as cruel and unusual punishment. I try to remember what a girlfriend once told me.....'Money can always be earned again.' She was right.
But for today, you're in both Sobbing Mode and Life Sucks So Pity Me Mode. Go for it. Wallow in them. Dive down to their very depths.
Then pick yourself up in the morning, brush off the dust, and hold your head high. We'll all be here waiting for you. ;-)
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
I'm sorry, that's sucks. Dealing with insurance can be SO frustrating. I always think it would seem right if insurance would pay for everything considering what we shell out for it in the first place...
So sorry to hear about your bad luck with the dentist bills. I can't stand them either. Every 6months we get new forms to fill out and sometimes things have changed so I have to remember what's covered this time and what's not. This is one thing that should always be straight forward, easy, stressfree because this is our health and in an emergency we don't need to worry about the right papers, etc. I hope your garage sale is a success and sending hugs and prayers for a surprise amount of money to come your way to help pay for it.
Exactly why I always put off making myself a dental cleaning appointment. I usually always come out of there with a $700 treatment plan. And that doesn't include nitrous.
Hang in there. I have had the same thing happen with my insurance too. I have learn that lesson well....
I'm right there with ya! This New Year has started off really bad for me because of Dental bills. I had to go in for a horrible toothache and ended up needing $6,500 worth of work done! We do not have Dental Insurance because we will pay more for the plan each year then they will cover! I did use a Dental Saving Plan that I got for myself. It cost me about 90 bucks for a year and that saved me a little over half. (You Should Look into that! Maybe they can credit some of it back to you?)
I cried for days about this heck I still cry about it! We had to get a care credit card and need to come up with an extra $550 a month so we can pay it off in a year before the interest hits! We were trying to have a second baby and now we cannot because we can’t afford it.
So as you can see it could be worse! I would gladly trade my $6,500 bill for your $1,700 hope that makes you feel better know if someone could get make me feel better!
We have dealt with the same thing with my husband's dental bills. Same sort of situation...at this particular dental office our insurance only pays half of what it would normally pay, but the ditz in the billing department never checked...gave my husband the amount it would be, we paid it, then we get a bill for almost $400. I called them, researched the insurance, and sure enough, they're not part of our "normal" plan. They're on some "premium" plan. But again, the girl didn't check...each time she filed! I still haven't paid the bill, and that was over a year ago. I told them it will get paid when it gets paid. They haven't sent me to collection, so I think they know they're in the wrong. We would have gone to a different dentist had we known!
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