Dr. Thomas L. Santomauro, MD

Review: This is the conversation I had with the billing department on Feb. **, 2013 based on a visit in late December 2012. Dear [redacted], I acknowledge receipt of your $79.30 invoice (attached). However, please be advised that when I made the appointment, I asked if your office was a “preferred” dentist and that I have MetLife and CIGNA dental insurance plans. The only question your representative asked me was which one was the primary (MetLife). Upon arrival at your office, I completed the paperwork and provided the MetLife and CIGNA insurance information. However, it was not until after the panoramic x-ray and I was asked to sign additional releases that it was made clear to me that your office did not deal with secondary insurance plans. At that point, I also made it clear that I cannot accept your services because I am not going to pay any additional dental bills (and it does not make financial sense) especially when I have $3,200 worth of dental coverage. I apologized for wasting your time and ended the appointment. All of this drama just to get one tooth extracted. When I contacted your billing department this morning, I was advised that she does not want to wait for CIGNA to pay. UNBELIEVABLE IN THIS DAY AND AGE! She also advised me to pay the bill and get the check from CIGNA. I then advised your billing department that CIGNA would not issue a check until they received a bill from your office. This sounds like she refuses to submit the bill; not that it cannot be done. Please note that I will immediately send you the payment once I receive the check from CIGNA. I also advised your billing department that I have been insured my entire life (almost 50 years) and based on my experiences, the insurance companies do pay the agreed upon amounts once they receive a bill and can verify that the services were provided. Again, it sounds like your billing department does not want to submit the necessary paperwork in order to get reimbursed. Again, based on my experiences, this is how insurance companies operate and this is how businesses get paid for their services. Finally, your office has all of the information it needs to get paid by CIGNA for the services rendered. Truthfully, you would have been paid by now if the bill was submitted directly to CIGNA. UNBELIEVALBE IN THIS DAY AND AGE! [redacted], I don’t know how you stay in business with these polices. Thank you for your time and reconsideration and I look forward to your favorable reply.Desired Settlement: I am not paying for this service because I made it clear to whoever I was speaking to on the phone when I made the appointment and to the receptionist upon arrival that I have 2 dental insurance plans and I did not come here for a bill. They just refuse to state that they only accept the primary insurance. They hope you don't figure this out until after it's too late. Again, as stated in my letter to the doctor, I ended the appointment before any actual work was done. They did an unnecessary panoramic xray. However, I did provide them with both insurance plans' information so they can get paid.

Consumer

Response:

At this time, I have not been contacted by Dr. Thomas L. Santomauro, MD regarding complaint ID [redacted].

Sincerely,