Please read this review!! & TRUST THE 1 STAR REVIEWS!!!! It should be 0!
Avoid this dental practice at all costs. Do not be misguided by the clean waiting area and "friendly" front desk staff and fancy equipment. The other reviews aren't lying when they say this practice is an absolute scam and their pricing scales are extremely questionable. I've put off this review for 3 months because I wanted to wait until my reimbursement, but I will go into the full details now, including my quotes.
I had 2 separate appointments - one on 11/22/22 for a deep dental cleaning (which I paid out-of-pocket $545). They ran their prices on their computer for "insurance" prices that were completely out of line from what Cigna DHMO indicated my charges should be. They insist this was the adjusted insurance price, claiming "without insurance, it would be $853."
Same thing with my appointment on 12/12/22 for wisdom teeth extraction (which I paid out-of-pocket $2,561 via Smile Generation Credit). Again, "without insurance, it would cost $4,663". For both appointments, they wouldn't honor my patient charge schedule. Their excuse was literally "Cigna doesn't always follow their charge schedule for those prices, so we can't go based off this Patient Charge Schedule. We go by what the computer says." So basically that Cigna has false advertisements. Let me give you a specific example. My Cigna insurance indicates 15 min of anesthesia should cost me out-of-pocket $80 per 15 minute increment. Alameda Landing Dentistry charged me $287(!!!) per 15 min increment (and my procedure was 1 hr, or 4 increments). So right there alone is already $800+ difference!! Altogether, I paid $3,206 upfront. And even apart from this, I had 2 pages of additional recommended unnecessary services that I declined.
Let me add that I absolutely needed to have the procedure done, hence why I accepted the appointment. I consulted with Cigna to verify my patient charge schedule and we discussed a complete itemized breakdown of what they would cover at Alameda Landing Dentistry based off my quote. Cigna also verified with me that they are in-network and would issue the dental office the payments per my patient charge schedule, so I knew I'd be issued a reimbursement. Cigna also helped me file complaints and handled all my appeals. Come February 6, Cigna completely handled everything on their end, including having sent ALD the EOBs and financial letter indicating I was owed a reimbursement. Cigna also informed me that they had 30 days, max, to issue my refund upon receiving their letter. Cigna processed the claims directly from Alameda Landing Dentistry, and my patient responsibility between both appointments in the end was only $1285. Do the math. $3206-$1285=$1921. SO ALAMEDA LANDING DENTISTRY OWED ME $1,921. That seems like a crazy overcharge considering they "gave me insurance prices".
I spoke with their receptionist Iris, who insisted she didn't see anything on her computer indicating an overcharge or that Cigna informed them they owed me. So she messaged their office manager Sharlain, who called me the next day. I sent her a copy of the letter I received from my insurance regarding their Overcharge fees and she confirmed she saw it on her end as well. Interesting that Iris didn't see it, supposedly, though Iris also stated "I'm not comfortable with handling reimbursements". Sharlain finally agreed to issue my refund and submitted the request to corporate. I asked if it would be via check, she had to check because, in her words "I don't submit refunds often". (no surprise there) It's just crazy that I would be due for such a hefty refund; how is it okay to overcharge me nearly $2,000 at the time of rendered services????
FYI - today is 3/8 and ALD told me that I should get my check in the mail by 3/17, which is 2 weeks beyond the 30-day deadline Cigna gave them.
My advice: look elsewhere. If you decide to put up with ALD, SAVE ALL YOUR DOCUMENTS. ASK FOR A PHYSICAL COPY OF YOUR ESTIMATES AND RECEIPTS (I had to ask for printouts, otherwise, they just went over it with me, had me sign, and took the papers away). FOLLOW THROUGH WITH YOUR REFUNDS.
But really though, avoid the headache altogether. Between Cigna and ALD, I must have spent close to 15 hours on the phone over the past 3 months with follow ups.
I will say this though: Dr. Oz Simel was fantastic. I had an easy recovery following my extraction; he is one of their CONTRACTED providers so he isn't solely an ALD oral surgeon, and Cigna also verified that he is one of their covered providers as well since he provides specialty services.
Contrary to Dr. Simel, Dr. Van Stryk was the dentist who did my cleaning, and it wasn't a pleasant experience. She was pretty rude and sounded very judgmental, also rushing through my cleaning. Can't remember the name of the dental assistant, but she was nice. I will say, however, she had long acrylic painted nails, which I'm guessing goes against OSHA/CDC standards. read more