UPDATE: I've been on lockdown with this pandemic, so I finally have time post my review on Yelp.
Early January I went to North Dallas ENT and I told them about my ear issues and how I felt so clogged with pressure that they needed to drain. Upon first visiting, after my $60 copay, I told her about my hearing loss and the feeling of fluid and pressure in my ears. I brought up Eustachian tube dilation and a Myringotomy. All the doc did was look in my ears and said, "Yep, you got some fluid in there." After I insisted that it may be just my ears, she kept trying to convince me that it was my sinuses that were the problem (What? After only looking in my ears?) and asked if I had trouble breathing through my nose or anything and I told her yes, but only if my allergies flared up. She latched on to my statement and insisted that they needed to get a CT scan to see what's going on and schedule a hearing test. After going back and forth with her on this, I reluctantly agreed to her pitch. That first visit took only 10 minutes (I waited nearly an hour) So I had to pay $300 out of pocket for the CT scan and about $80 for the hearing test, insurance wouldn't cover it. The 2nd visit was for the hearing test and the evaluation of it, another $60 copayment. The next visit was for the evaluation of the CT scan and discussed what type of procedures needed to be performed, another $60 copay.
Then they took me to billing. Much to my surprise, the physician's fees were $8k ALONE. After insurance on just that, I would have to pay $2,064.43 out of pocket. They told me to call the anesthesiologist and the surgeon. The surgery would've been $4,285 AFTER insurance and the anesthesia would've been $200/hr all out of pocket. So the grand total of all this rafter insurance? $6,550. My deductible is $6k and THATS not even the kicker. They quoted me $117.82 for the first two post-op visits and $61.93 for the third and beyond, that's strictly out of pocket regardless of deductibles. I had to cancel the surgery because I can't afford my deductible being maxed out.
I called my insurance company just to see what the total cost would be without insurance. Ready for it? $38,000 THIRTY-EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS for a simple, non-invasive 1-hour surgery.
So after copays and out of pocket tests, I spent approximately $560 for absolutely nothing. I called every other ENT in the DFW area and told them that I could send the test results of my CT scan and hearing exam, and all of them refused and said they wanted to do their own testing which would cost ME even more out of pocket.
I've been having these issues for the past 2 years now. My condition has been getting so bad, that I've been getting pressure headaches and even more hearing loss, so I started saving to just pay for ANYTHING to fix this. THEN this pandemic happened which canceled all non-essential surgeries until this emergency is lifted, but that won't happen for months according to several sources, and the company I'm working for is going through rounds and rounds of layoffs because of it, so I'm probably going to lose my job and my insurance along with it. I'm going to be stuck with this for a looooong time.
I'm convinced that North Dallas ENT are just there to take your money, period. I HIGHLY recommend you look elsewhere.
And If North Dallas ENT is reading this, you absolutely screwed me and my quality of life. If you just LISTENED to me and offered to give me simple tubes, I wouldn't be in this predicament. read more