University Hearing and Speech Clinic

Complaint: [redacted] Dear EWU Dental Hygiene Clinic.I am rejecting this response because:I disagree with your response because I was not provided verification of insurance and I did not agree to any payments You did not provide me with paperwork that showed what my share of the procedure wasYou stated that there was a 50% deductible for services however deductible is collected at the time of service and the patient is always informed of this before the procedure and I was not informedI was reassured three times that my insurance will cover everything at 100%I was never told that you are not a PPOI clearly stated that I do not want to proceed with any procedures unless my insurance covers everything at 100% I was reassures that all the procedures are covered by my insurance [redacted] Washington has more that hundred PPO provides that I could have gone to instead of going to a clinic where student workI refuse to pay because I was not informed properly of my share for the procedure and my insurance was not verified properlyThe billing department did a horrible job and I am not going to pay due to their lack of effort in providing me with accurate information

Subject: statement for EWU Dental Hygiene Clinic regarding ID ***To whom it may concern:Regarding complaint against Eastern Washington University Dental Hygiene ClinicEWU is a teaching Clinic geared towards education future hygienistsThe clinic has been open to the public since 1971.EWU
offers low cost treatment to any community member, whether insured or not At our clinic, we primarily sees patients who are on Medicaid, pay out of pocket, or patients that carry private insuranceAs a courtesy, we do bill out to *** *** ** Washington. Patients are responsible for knowing what their insurance will cover at their appointmentEWU is not responsible for telling patients what may or may not be covered at time of serviceWe are also not a PPO. The complainant did visit our clinic for treatment.Her services were billed to *** *** ** Washington. The RA from *** *** returned to our clinicThere was a 50% deductible for services, and her treatment was covered at only 80%She was then billed by our clinic for the remaining balance of $120.00The complainant received a statement, and her daughter called asking why she was billedShe was under the impression the services would be covered 100%I explained to her that her insurance did not indicate they covered 100% and she would have to take it up with *** *** if she thought coverage was incorrect.She did not pay the bill.She visited the clinic after receiving another day statement with her daughter on 6/7/I personally sat down with her and explained why she was being billedI made copies of check that DDWA sent, showing what the patient was responsible for (insurance also sends these out to their members)She explained she called DDWA, and they told her via phone (and a recorded phone conversation) that she was covered 100%She could not provide proof of this and I explained and showed her again that they only were covering 80% and that was all the information I had from them.She became very irritated, said she was going to hire a lawyer, and I said that was fineHowever, I would have to turn her into collections with EWU if she did not pay the bill in days from service.The complainant needs to work with her insurance figuring out what is/ was coveredWe are a 3rd party merely billing out to insurance.EWU dental hygiene is simply a clinic that is educating students while helping the public with their oral health- that might not be able to receive treatment elsewhereAs a courtesy, we bill out to *** *** ** Washington, hoping in good faith that patients will then pay the remaining balance to our clinicHad we not billed her insurance, she would have had to provide 100% payment on the date of her service- and billed her insurance on her own like many of our patientsWe are only asking that she pay the $remaining balance so we can keep our income steady and continue serving those who value our services

Complaint: [redacted]Dear EWU Dental Hygiene Clinic.I am rejecting this response because:I disagree with your response because I was not provided verification of insurance and I did not agree to any payments.  You did not provide me with paperwork that showed what my share of the procedure was. You stated that there was a 50% deductible for services however deductible is collected at the time of service and the patient is always informed of this before the procedure and I was not informed. I was reassured three times that my insurance will cover everything at 100%. I was never told that you are not a PPO. I clearly stated that I do not want to proceed with any procedures unless my insurance covers everything at 100%.  I was reassures that all the procedures are covered by my insurance. [redacted] Washington has more that hundred PPO provides that I could have gone to instead of going to a clinic where student work. I refuse to pay because I was not informed properly of my share for the procedure and my insurance was not verified properly. The billing department did a horrible job and I am not going to pay due to their lack of effort in providing me with accurate information.

Review: [redacted] sold me a bad hearing aid it only lasted a week and it was bad, now she is chargeing me 150 dollars all because she decided to not get it fixed and not try to help me anymore and in her words she told me I would get a full refund if she couldnt fit me with a hearing aid now she going back in that and in the contract I did not enitional that part b/c of what she stated,thats not my fault she was sent a bad hearing aid.Its SHEis totaly rippng me 0ff,my next complaint will be with the AGO.Thank you please look in to this matter im very poor and live on disability.also she told me she was going to get me a different one so the contract I signed was no good anymore so I threw it away now she dod this what a scam.Desired Settlement: to get all my refund b/c it was not my fault she decide not to help me or fix that one or was sent one that wouldnt work for me thats only fair.

Business

Response:

_______ was seen in our clinic requesting a hearing aid

fitting. He was given a price quote for the hearing aid of $1120 and $70 for

the ear mold.

A Siemens instrument was ordered and he was fit. The ear

mold fit very well. _____ was given multiple accessories with his order. He signed

the Washington State purchase agreement contract allowing the seller to keep $150

if the purchased hearing aid was returned for reasonable cause.

Within 7 days of wearing the hearing aid I was receiving emails

from him stating that he wanted to try a hearing aid from a different

manufacturer, Unitron. He stated that he was now unhappy with the Siemens

because it was making a “bad speaker sound.” I listened to the aid and found no

problem in the function or the sound. I did however accept it and returned it

to Siemens and ordered the Unitron aid per his request.

He returned to try the Unitron in the office but he was very

unsatisfied with the aid even though this was the very aid he begged me to order for him just a few

days prior. I offered to order a new Siemens hearing aid rather than a repair

as this would give him an additional 30 day trial with a new aid. It was the

next day that I received an email from him requesting “his money back, he was

done!” I replied via email that we would give him a credit for the hearing aid

minus shipping charges incurred. This would actually be less of a penalty than

keeping the $150 that the State of Washington contract allows.

It was at this point we received another email demanding a

full refund inclusive of the $150. We

agreed to a onetime exception in the form of a full refund for the hearing aid

$1120. We are charging him $70 for the custom ear mold. This offer was

communicated to him via email.