Alan B Singer, DDS

On August **, 2013, I called [redacted]'s dental office and made an appointment to have 1 impacted wisdom tooth extracted, providing my social security number and insurance information. I arrived at the office the following morning for my 8:30 a.m. appointment and was informed that there was difficulty contacting my insurance company and I would be required to pay for the visit in cash since my primary residence was out of state and the dentist was concerned about being stuck with the bill (I was on vacation in New York at the time of the visit, although I reside in California). I paid $650 cash for the visit and the accountant, [redacted] informed me that she would mail the invoice to my insurance company the same day.On September *, 2013, I called my insurance company, Cigna to find out if/ when the claim would be paid and I would be reimbursed. I was informed that the dentist was reimbursed $521.60 and my portion was $46.40, which means I was overcharged by the dentist by $82.00. After getting off the phone with the Cigna representative, I called [redacted]'s office and explained the discrepancy to [redacted], requested that I get reimbursed the $521.60 plus the $82.00 I overpaid based on the contracted amount between [redacted] and Cigna. [redacted] informed me that she would look into it and give me a call back. I did not receive a follow-up call as promised, but received a check on September **, 2013 in the amount of $521.60.I called my insurance company several times between September **, 2013 and September **, 2013 to reconfirm that I was overcharged and called [redacted]'s office to discuss the issue with [redacted] on September **, 2013. [redacted] told me she was told by her Office Manager to mail me a check for $521.60 and further explained that the office made a mistake by not submitting the claim as an emergency. I explained to [redacted] that the visit was not an emergency, because I made an appointment the day prior and even if it was, the percentage Cigna paid would remain the same and I still would have been overcharged. She informed me that she would call Cigna to confirm the oversight in billing.I called Cigna for a second time on September **, 2013 after speaking to [redacted] and spoke to the representative, [redacted] to find out what the difference in cost would be between the regular and emergency visits and was informed that there would be no difference, because I have a PPO, which does not require me to gain authorization prior to an emergency visit. [redacted] offered to called [redacted]'s office to explain the policy to [redacted] and I agreed. [redacted] returned called back to inform me that [redacted] confirmed the office would not be issuing an additional refund. At that point, I opened a claim with CIgna to review the contract with [redacted]'s office. To date, the claim has not been resolved.[redacted] returned my call later on September **, 2013, informed me that she spoke to [redacted] from Cigna and there will be no additional refund. I told [redacted] that the dentist was contracted to charge me a particular amount, having known I was covered by Cigna and she responded by stating, "you knew the charge was $650, paid it and that's it, no more money for you. Thank you."