Now Care Dental

Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2016/03/01) */ Ms [redacted] was seen in our office on Mon., 2-11-at approx.5:00pm as a wapatientShe came with x-ray in hand, stating she needed her wisdom teeth removedBecause it was 5pm, and her dental insurance company was closed, we were unable to verify her insurance benefits at that timeShe was offered the option of paying for services that day and having the teeth removed but she preferred that she waited to see what insurance would coverMs [redacted] did not have a copy of her insurance card with her so we took down as much information as we could to try to verify the insurance for herI have also included that form for your reviewWe advised her that we would call her insurance the next morning and call her with copay portions and to schedule a time to get the teeth removed if she was financially prepared to do soWe did verify Ms***'s insurance as promised, noting the different percentages her insurance said they would pay for each procedure type, remaining benefits, maximums etcI am attaching the verification form for your reviewShe came in on2-20-and had the teeth removed as planned, paying the copay portion (cash) we estimated using the information her insurance company provided usNow Care Dental submitted a claim electronically on behalf of Ms [redacted] for completed services on 3-4-again using the information provided by the insurance companyWhen we did not get a response from Delta Dental, we closed the claims and resent the claim on the following dates; 3-12-2013, 3-15-and 3-26-After many attempts to collect from the insurance company and having depleted the molimitation for filing a claim, we sent Ms [redacted] a statement on 4-16-letting her know we had not been successful in collecting from the insurance companyThis statement included a note that her account was days overdueWe waited months for a payment and when we did not receive one, we sent another statement on 6-13-which included another note that she was 90+ days overdue as well as a note that's warned her " $$$$$ Collections is next step"There was STILL no response from [redacted] regarding her past due bill or concerns over her insuranceAs a business owner, I believe that we gave [redacted] ample opportunity to clear up her past due balance with us or investigate her insurance companies lack of response and follow throughWe exercised our right to send Ms***'s account over to our collection agency, [redacted] for further collection proceedingsWhile this may seem like an expedited process to Ms***, we did not make a hasty movemonths had passed since [redacted] received treatment in our clinicmonths is a LONG time for a small business to carry a balance for a patient and I must say it is frowned upon by our accountant when we give someone that much of a grace period to pay their billOnce we send an account to collections, it is out of our hands at the clinicThe bad debt has been written off in our system and our patient now becomes their clientIf their client agrees and complies with a payment plan, the credit agency will communicate that arrangement with us, and send us a check as payments come inWe did not receive any checks toward the principal balance of [redacted] ***'s account but rather received a "Legal Suit Authorization" form asking if we would like to take legal action as Ms [redacted] had not paid her past due balanceI am not privy to the exact policies and procedures that [redacted] follows to collect a debt, or the timeframe in which they increase their level of intensity with the collection processI can tell you however, that they are a successful company and have collected on quite a few bad debt accounts for usI am confident that they made many attempts to collect from Ms [redacted] via phone, email or US Postal service BEFORE asking if I wanted to take legal actionOn 8-26-I signed and faxed the Legal Suit Authform back to [redacted] for further actionThis was the last I heard from anyone regarding Ms***'s account until the patient walked in to Now Care Dental on 12-14-2015, telling my Financial Coordinator, Deanna that she wanted a claim form signed so she can submit the claim for services completed on 2-11-1-herselfShe stated that her insurance company stated that we never sent them the claimRather than sign a generic form, Deanna printed [redacted] a dental claim form from our dental software and explained to Ms [redacted] that we had indeed submitted the claim on several occasionsMuch to my surprise, Ms***'s dental insurance paid on the claim using our EXACT claim form informationWe applaud [redacted] for getting this accomplishedMost of the time the patient has more merit with the insurance company and can get things done because after all, the relationship is ultimately between the patient, the insurance company, and the patients employerA dental office only submits a claim on a patient's behalf as a courtesy to the patient [redacted] 's account was adjusted to include the insurance payment of$and Now Care Dental took an insurance write off because we are indeed in network for Ms***'s insuranceThis adjustment was for $204.90, which left a credit on [redacted] 's account of $My financial coordinator attempted to refund the $but Ms [redacted] insisted that we owe her the entire insurance check, stating her wages are being garnished by Now Care DentalNow Care Dental does not, has not, and will never garnish someone's wagesWhen Ms [redacted] ignored the collection attempts by [redacted] , the attempts escalated and were eventually referred by the collection agency to [redacted] for legal actionWhen all attempts fail, the courts decide who gets garnished and how the garnishment takes placeMs [redacted] was advised by my financial coordinator on 12-14/and 1-21-to call the credit agencyShe was told( after taking Deanna's advice) by [redacted] to call [redacted] as the case had been turned over to the legal departmentWhen I spoke to Amber at [redacted] yesterday, she stated that as of 2-13-no payments had been collected on [redacted] ***'s account, despite Ms [redacted] telling us she was being garnishedI had Amber follow up with [redacted] , and she was told that Ms [redacted] had had her wages garnished in the amount of $but that zero of those dollars were passed along to [redacted] as a " Principal Balance" paymentWhen I asked Amber what this meant, she stated that the law firm advised that the garnishments had only gone to pay the legal fees that [redacted] had incurred above and beyond her outstanding balance with Now Care DentalWhen I asked Amber at [redacted] if Now Care Dental owes [redacted] any reimbursement other than the $credit on her account, Amber stated no, she incurred those legal fees and you are not responsible, nor are [redacted] for reimbursementWhen I asked if Ms [redacted] should call [redacted] with further questions or concerns, Amber stated that Ms [redacted] should call Elizabeth as [redacted] she has been the one handling the caseI am providing the phone number for Elizabeth at the law firm in my response in case [redacted] has misplaced the paperwork she received from themElizabeth's number is: [redacted] Amber at [redacted] has assured me that the garnishment process by [redacted] has been discontinued after her phone call with Elizabeth yesterdayAgain, Now Care Dental only has an indirect working relationship with [redacted] legal department so cannot comment one way or another on how their process worksWhile I understand that [redacted] is frustrated with how far the collection process has gone, I do believe that she has had a generous amount of time to clear up her accountNow Care Dental focuses on treating the patients that are in the office with urgent dental needs first and foremostWe do not sit in front of a desk waiting to count our money at the end of the day but believe in getting paid for what we doWe also believe in giving people (and insurance companies) the benefit of the doubt by being flexible with our 30-60-day account balancesMs***, and/or her insurance company exceeded the level that we can extend our payment arrangements and we acted accordingly by sending her account to our credit specialistsAlthough I would love to explain all of this to Ms [redacted] in person or over the phone, I believe it is in the best interest of all parties that I only respond hereI will make a note on Ms***'s account to let my financial coordinator, Deanna know that she may refund the $on a credit card of choice when the patient calls to speak to her directlyDeanna is available Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8:00am-4:00pm and Tuesday/Thursday from 11:00am-7:00pm to process your refund

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/03/01) */
Ms. [redacted] was seen in our office on Mon., 2-11-2013 at approx.5:00pm as a walk-in patient. She came with x-ray in hand, stating she needed her wisdom teeth removed. Because it was 5pm, and her dental insurance company was closed, we were unable...

to verify her insurance benefits at that time. She was offered the option of paying for services that day and having the teeth removed but she preferred that she waited to see what insurance would cover. Ms. [redacted] did not have a copy of her insurance card with her so we took down as much information as we could to try to verify the insurance for her. I have also included that form for your review. We advised her that we would call her insurance the next morning and call her with copay portions and to schedule a time to get the teeth removed if she was financially prepared to do so. We did verify Ms. [redacted]'s insurance as promised, noting the different percentages her insurance said they would pay for each procedure type, remaining benefits, maximums etc... I am attaching the verification form for your review. She came in on2-20-2013 and had the teeth removed as planned, paying the copay portion (193.44 cash) we estimated using the information her insurance company provided us. Now Care Dental submitted a claim electronically on behalf of Ms. [redacted] for completed services on 3-4-2013 again using the information provided by the insurance company. When we did not get a response from Delta Dental, we closed the claims and resent the claim on the following dates; 3-12-2013, 3-15-2013 and 3-26-2013 After many attempts to collect from the insurance company and having depleted the 12 mo. limitation for filing a claim, we sent Ms. [redacted] a statement on 4-16-2014 letting her know we had not been successful in collecting from the insurance company. This statement included a note that her account was 90 days overdue. We waited 2 months for a payment and when we did not receive one, we sent another statement on 6-13-2014 which included another note that she was 90+ days overdue as well as a note that's warned her " $$$$$ Collections is next step. "There was STILL no response from [redacted] regarding her past due bill or concerns over her insurance. As a business owner, I believe that we gave [redacted] ample opportunity to clear up her past due balance with us or investigate her insurance companies lack of response and follow through. We exercised our right to send Ms. [redacted]'s account over to our collection agency, [redacted] for further collection proceedings. While this may seem like an expedited process to Ms. [redacted], we did not make a hasty move. 14 months had passed since [redacted] received treatment in our clinic. 14 months is a LONG time for a small business to carry a balance for a patient and I must say it is frowned upon by our accountant when we give someone that much of a grace period to pay their bill. Once we send an account to collections, it is out of our hands at the clinic. The bad debt has been written off in our system and our patient now becomes their client. If their client agrees and complies with a payment plan, the credit agency will communicate that arrangement with us, and send us a check as payments come in. We did not receive any checks toward the principal balance of [redacted]'s account but rather received a "Legal Suit Authorization" form asking if we would like to take legal action as Ms. [redacted] had not paid her past due balance. I am not privy to the exact policies and procedures that [redacted] follows to collect a debt, or the timeframe in which they increase their level of intensity with the collection process. I can tell you however, that they are a successful company and have collected on quite a few bad debt accounts for us. I am confident that they made many attempts to collect from Ms. [redacted] via phone, email or US Postal service BEFORE asking if I wanted to take legal action. On 8-26-2015 I signed and faxed the Legal Suit Auth. form back to [redacted] for further action. This was the last I heard from anyone regarding Ms. [redacted]'s account until the patient walked in to Now Care Dental on 12-14-2015, telling my Financial Coordinator, Deanna that she wanted a claim form signed so she can submit the claim for services completed on 2-11-1-2013 herself. She stated that her insurance company stated that we never sent them the claim. Rather than sign a generic form, Deanna printed [redacted] a dental claim form from our dental software and explained to Ms. [redacted] that we had indeed submitted the claim on several occasions. Much to my surprise, Ms. [redacted]'s dental insurance paid on the claim using our EXACT claim form information. We applaud [redacted] for getting this accomplished. Most of the time the patient has more merit with the insurance company and can get things done because after all, the relationship is ultimately between the patient, the insurance company, and the patients employer. A dental office only submits a claim on a patient's behalf as a courtesy to the patient. [redacted]'s account was adjusted to include the insurance payment of$408.36 and Now Care Dental took an insurance write off because we are indeed in network for Ms. [redacted]'s insurance. This adjustment was for $204.90, which left a credit on [redacted]'s account of $20.46. My financial coordinator attempted to refund the $20.46 but Ms. [redacted] insisted that we owe her the entire insurance check, stating her wages are being garnished by Now Care Dental. Now Care Dental does not, has not, and will never garnish someone's wages. When Ms. [redacted] ignored the collection attempts by [redacted], the attempts escalated and were eventually referred by the collection agency to [redacted] for legal action. When all attempts fail, the courts decide who gets garnished and how the garnishment takes place. Ms. [redacted] was advised by my financial coordinator on 12-14/2016 and 1-21-2016 to call the credit agency. She was told( after taking Deanna's advice) by [redacted] to call [redacted] as the case had been turned over to the legal department. When I spoke to Amber at [redacted] yesterday, she stated that as of 2-13-2016 no payments had been collected on [redacted]'s account, despite Ms. [redacted] telling us she was being garnished. I had Amber follow up with [redacted], and she was told that Ms. [redacted] had had her wages garnished in the amount of $694.08 but that zero of those dollars were passed along to [redacted] as a " Principal Balance" payment. When I asked Amber what this meant, she stated that the law firm advised that the garnishments had only gone to pay the legal fees that [redacted] had incurred above and beyond her outstanding balance with Now Care Dental. When I asked Amber at [redacted] if Now Care Dental owes [redacted] any reimbursement other than the $20.46 credit on her account, Amber stated no, she incurred those legal fees and you are not responsible, nor are [redacted] for reimbursement. When I asked if Ms. [redacted] should call [redacted] with further questions or concerns, Amber stated that Ms. [redacted] should call Elizabeth as [redacted] she has been the one handling the case. I am providing the phone number for Elizabeth at the law firm in my response in case [redacted] has misplaced the paperwork she received from them. Elizabeth's number is: [redacted]. Amber at [redacted] has assured me that the garnishment process by [redacted] has been discontinued after her phone call with Elizabeth yesterday. Again, Now Care Dental only has an indirect working relationship with [redacted] legal department so cannot comment one way or another on how their process works. While I understand that [redacted] is frustrated with how far the collection process has gone, I do believe that she has had a generous amount of time to clear up her account. Now Care Dental focuses on treating the patients that are in the office with urgent dental needs first and foremost. We do not sit in front of a desk waiting to count our money at the end of the day but believe in getting paid for what we do. We also believe in giving people (and insurance companies) the benefit of the doubt by being flexible with our 30-60-90 day account balances. Ms. [redacted], and/or her insurance company exceeded the level that we can extend our payment arrangements and we acted accordingly by sending her account to our credit specialists. Although I would love to explain all of this to Ms. [redacted] in person or over the phone, I believe it is in the best interest of all parties that I only respond here. I will make a note on Ms. [redacted]'s account to let my financial coordinator, Deanna know that she may refund the $20.46 on a credit card of choice when the patient calls to speak to her directly. Deanna is available Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8:00am-4:00pm and Tuesday/Thursday from 11:00am-7:00pm to process your refund.