Should I say something to my dentist?

I figure all providers are mystified by third party payers. After all, the last thing a third party payer wants to do is pay.

I also figure your dentist only knows about teeth, not the bureaucratic maze of third party payers.

Third party payers? You mean my insurance company? Doctors have to deal with insurance all long. They have to code everything just right. Very very few people pay out of pocket. What is mystifying? Or am I not understanding your comment?

It’s not insurance
Insurance is a bet.
You bet something bad and expensive will happen and insurance actuaries after exhaustive research calculate the odds and bet that it won’t

Dental “insurance” is not a bet.
They know how people utilize the “benefit”. They are not rich by being stupid. But they can’t calculate odds like they can that your house will burn down.
You put money into the kitty, a guy in a suit takes a cut and then determines which services they will pay for. The more services you want, the more you put in the kitty.

Anyway it’s your job to know your benefits
You’re paying for them

@josie I know my benefits, and I knew I had dental. That’s why I made a dental appointment. There was no reason for me to think I needed a separate card for dental. I’ve never had to have one before. This is also the first time I’ve gone to the dentist on it.

I have NO idea what you’re talking about up there. I once had a massive hospital bill of $375,000. My insurance at the time paid for all but $1,800 of it.

My point is, it is not my job to find this information out. It’s the gals in the office. You don’t make your customers do your work for you. It is NOT my job to learn how to file claims. I have no experience in it. They do. Should I say something to the dentist for future customers?

See first post

Alright, let’s start here: “I figure all providers are mystified”…are you referring to my health insurance provider or my health provider? I can’t read your mind.

Might it be that the woman lacks experience as a dental receptionist?

The provider is the professional
The payer is the third party

There were 3 of them back there, @stanleybmanly. I’ve dealt with them for years. This women seemed new, but the others weren’t. I have even less dental reception experience but for crying out loud I know how to call a number! That’s what she should have done, instead of putting it back on me.

@Dutchess_III: “It wasn’t an earth shattering situation but….”

As a rule, I don’t generally play with people’s ability to house and feed themselves because I was inconvenienced. She may have learned from the experience. But reporting her to her boss puts her job at risk.

How is the payer “third party,” @josie?

Yeah @hmmmmmm. I wouldn’t want to do that. Maybe I should ask the other girls in the office about it?

Dutch – health insurance is commonly referred to as “third party coverage.” With the health care system we have in America and all the varieties of coverage, it is often necessary to be your own advocate. As dental coverage is not that commonly part of a regular health policy, I can see why she was confused.

It has always been a part of every health insurance plan I’ve ever had @janbb.
Coverage for eye glasses gets wonky with some of them though.
I just can’t be the only patient with Cigna.

You’ve been very lucky then. Bottom line, you can get your knickers in a twist over it or you can let it go.

Of course I can let it go. But if it was my employee in a business that is reliant on satisfied customers I’d want to know. This was a minor incident but it might be a flag.

If the insurance is a 3rd payer, who are the first and second payers?

Third party
First two parties are the ones directly involved in a transaction

So the choice is air head or inexperienced? Were I in her position, I know for a fact that I would choose to ask you every time rather than risk an encounter with some horrible automated decision tree.

I could have just as easily given her a blank stare and said “I have no idea what to do! I don’t deal with insurance providers from a business standpoint.”
Lucky for us I’m a problem solver.

The 3rd party payer still confuses me First two (payer) parties are the ones directly involved in a transaction.
The dentist is not a payer. The dentist is the payee.
I am the payer. I would assume I’m the 1st party payer. So who would be the second party payer?

The third party is the payer

Anyway I’m sure it will all work out for the best

So it’s the 3rd party in the chain of the transaction.

Oh, it worked out. I got ahold of the insurance company, gave the phone to the receptipnist and the insurance rep told her what to do.
If I didn’t have a cell phone I would have had to use the receptionist’s phone. Lol! Maybe I should have done that.
“May I use your phone so I can do your job for you?”

For crying out loud people isn’t it time you had your medical care system . ..... ..socialised?

^ working on it

Don’t holla at us @flutherother! We’re on your side.

I didn’t mention that I called Rick first. He just said he remembered reading something that said CIGNA doesn’t provide a seperate card for dental. That’s all he said. He didn’t tell me he was going to call them!
Anyway, he did and they told him that all the dentist receptionist had to do was plug in the ID or group number “in” (I assume they have a special program for insurance provider information) and everything she would have needed would have been right there, including the fact that dental was covered along with whatever information that means something to someone who files insurance claims.

It’s a tough call. Perhaps the woman is sharper than we presume. Could be that she has a gift for spotting those likely to know. It turned out that her solution turned the trick this time. She might have asked simply on the chance that you absentmindedly passed her the wrong card by mistake. Who knows? The key to your assessment of her requires further interactions.

Well, actually, she did first approach to ask if I had a seperate dental card. I pulled all my cards, looked through them, and said I did not.
Then she handed me my card and said “Well it doesn’t say dental anywhere on the card.”
Then she turned and walked back to her receptionist area.
I kind of stared at her retreating back, then called the 800 number on the card, then passed the phone through the window to her.

You mean she gave you the card and dismissed further involvement with you? As Reggie would say “that’s a different color horse!”

Well she didn’t exactly dismiss me. When I said I didn’t have another card she just kind of shrugged and walked away to go back to her desk, leaving me to figure it out. I do not know what the deal was. I just thought it was odd and unprofessional.

Who is Reggie?

Reggie (from the city) was a fedora and box back coat wearing street sage from my youth. And get this, he actually passed out business cards (engraved) which read “ Reggie (from the city). No phone number—no address, but down below in gold script—Memphis City that is. I have a fondness to this day for parenthesis, and my best friend and I can laugh for hours just discussing his exploits.

You want some quips? “Remember THIS youngster if nothing else: In this life you gotta be hard as a brick and sweet as Kayro syrup.” He wore pointy toed Stacey Adams shoes that ALWAYS shined like mirrors. And he was CLEAN! How clean? Reggie was so dazzling that sunglasses were required just to look at him!

I’d give feedback, sure. Some people accidentally hire idiots. I’ve had several from free annuals to vision co-pays, smh.

Unprofessional is understatement. It’s straight up rude. The only question is whether or not the slight was deliberate.

But I’m with @hmmmmm. I don’t want to cost her her job. Maybe she’s just dumb or inexperienced, not deliberately rude.
But she needs to be taught so that’s why I wonder if I should say something.

For a while last year I was having lab work every couple of weeks at the hospital.
Once some chick taking my blood said “Do you even know why you’re getting this done all the time or is someone just telling you to come in??”
I don’t think she works there any more.