Billing errors may be looming in unopened mail

Check your mail, there may be billing errors. I wanted to share my story about a recent dental visit and bill. 

I had a dental emergency and went to the dentist. They took care of the emergency with a temporary fix and suggested I make a visit for a more permanent fix. I scheduled the visit for the permanent fix. Then when that day arrived. I got dressed, worked for a bit and headed to the dentist office. When I got there, I had to call from outside (due to COVID), and then they let in. Once inside I checked in and paid the $50 patient deducible  for the anticipated services and waited in the waiting room for my name to be called. 

Then I was called and went in thinking I was about to have the service I was scheduled for and and ended up having a consultation with the dentist. He mentioned I need to do some other work and we didn’t need to do the permanent fix that day and we walked through some options. We had a great discussion and at the end he committed to send the plan to me via email. 

A couple of weeks later I received an explanation of benefits (EOB) from my dental insurance company in the mail. It showed the dental office billed them for the service I was scheduled to have (the permanent fix) that I didn’t end of having. The EOB also showed $585.50 was applied to my deductible which meant that was the amount I would have to pay out of pocket. As a matter of fact I didn't have any service that day. I called the dentist office and they acknowledged the error and assured me they are working with my dental insurance carrier to reverse the entire bill.

Pictured below is the portion of my actual EOB with the summary of the changes and how they were applied.

The moral of the story, OPEN YOUR MAIL. Ensure things are accurate. People are human and they make mistakes. I know too many people that have unopened mail on a counter, on their desk in a “to do” pile. When you get EOBs in the mail, it is important that you check:

• The services rendered 
• Charges
• What was paid, or not
• Your patient responsibility
• The provider of service 

I still have to monitor to ensure it is actually reversed as it was not done as I wrote this blog. 

This has nothing baring on the dentist himself or even the office staff. I actually love my dentist and the staff. This is a reminder that everyone makes mistakes and something are on auto-pilot and you are the 2nd set of eyes to catch things. 

Start off the year with knowing all of your debt. Open all mail and if you have bills sent to yo in emails, be sure you are checking emails regularly. The best way to pay bill so time or to ditch debt is to know how much debt you have. Create a budget to help. Grab you free debt tracker or budget sheet here. 

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