i had my last remaining wisdom tooth removed the other day and prior to the procedure my dentist took a panoramic x-ray of my entire mouth. of course, my insurance company decided to not reimburse me for this. now, my dental insurance policy said 100% of any "routine x-rays" would be covered, which was enough to get me on the phone with the insurance company. i felt kind of bad for the woman on the other end, since i'm pretty sure all she ever hears is people bitching about how much they are being charged.the conversation went something like this - mind you, she was very aggressive from the get-go, probably because she was anticipating my yelling at her:
her: ma'am, we only cover routine x-rays and a panoramic x-ray is not routine.
me: i don't understand. how is it not routine when it's in the course of treating something like a wisdom tooth?
her: now, if your dentist took x-rays of only a couple of teeth, that's cheaper and considered routine.
me: but the dentist would take those x-rays only because there was a special occasion, like a cavity or a broken tooth. i don't think that should be considered routine.
her: panoramic x-rays are very expensive and not routine.
i pretty much left it there. am i crazy? am i totally misunderstanding the definition of "routine?" my friend pointed out that they can label it however they want, but the bottom line is, they're not paying for it.
1 comment:
In my experience insurance companies are never this draconian, nor are they wedded to their own cost-saving interpretations of terms. Also, did I tell you I am an alien from the planet Total Bullshit?
Post a Comment