Dr. Stephen was highly recommended by my dentist for my daughter to have her wisdom teeth removed. We followed the necessary steps from consultation to surgical removal. I have no complaints about the procedure completed by Dr. Stephen. I have complaints about the office staff and the way they handled processing of the procedure, which caused a significant amount of unnecessary stress. The office stated this procedure would be covered at 100% by my dental insurance. 3 months later I received a bill for $561.00. When I inquired about the bill, the office stated that the insurance refused to cover a portion of the procedure and it was now my responsibility to reach out to the insurance and remediate the issue. 5 months later and 3 denials from the insurance company, I called the office consistently within this 5 month period to update them on the status of the claim and proceedings, they told me to keep fighting it and to go as far as making a complaint to the insurance commissioner, which I did. The office stated that the bill needs to be paid or I would be sent to collections despite the aggravation that I was going through with the insurance company. Fast forward to 2 weeks ago, I called to paid the bill knowing that it needed to be taken care of, since the insurance was not going to cover the cost that the office stated to me would be covered at a 100%. The office manager was fully aware that the payment was going to be made, I became distracted with my work responsibilities and did not make a payment on that day, however I called a few days later (because the office seems to always be closed at 3pm and I am at work until that time or later). When I finally reached them on that Friday of the same week, both office assistants stated it was too late and my bill was sent to collections. If the collections processed was to be stop, I would need to pay the bill in full. This is absurd, I have called my medical offices recently and in the past to stop the collection process and make payments without a hitch, due to my high HSA. This office refused to stop the process even after they knew what I had been dealing, trying to deal with the insurance company. I decided to reach out to my insurance again for the 5th time and asked to do a full case review with me from the day of consultation to the completion of the procedure. The result was that my insurance was NEVER going to cover the full procedure because my insurance did NOT have that type of coverage for the said procedure, that is why they sent me three denials. The office misinterpreted the information that was provided to me on the day of the consultation, and I did not receive a written pre-authorization from my insurance company that would provide to me of what the cost would be, which for any procedure over $300.00 is required by my dental insurance. What is so unnerving about this whole thing is it that I would have easily paid the outstanding balance if the information given to me was accurate, which it was not. For 5 months, consistent phone conversations with her office staff they urged me consistently to argue, write/fax letters of complaints to my insurance, send an abundant amount of information to make a complaint to the insurance commissioner, which has taken endless time and hours to make sure payment was made to Dr. Stephen. And after further and detailed investigation, the information was not clearly understood or communicated to the best of their ability. I trusted them to handle the process and believed that they were in the right. In the end, I NEVER had 100% coverage and her staff refused to validate that they were in the wrong. They failed to stopped the collection process and were extremely rude, stating that I was threatening because I wanted to halt the collection process and make a payment. The office staff poorly handled this situation, cause unnecessary stress and aggravation for something that was simple and easily resolved with admitting the information that was initially given to me was incorrect. Dr. Stephen then sent me a certified letter stating that her office staff tries their best to assist clients and it is still my responsibility to pay the bill, no compromise or apology for what this office has done to me over the course of 5 months. I would NOT recommend this office. read more
