An Indiana parent has sparked outrage over a dentist who allegedly sent them a $1,700 bill that should have been covered by insurance. According to the parent, the dentist’s office claimed the insurance claims had been denied and then forced them to handle the issue themselves. But after doing the legwork, the parent discovered that the problem appeared to stem from the dental office’s own mistake: it had reportedly been using the wrong Social Security number when submitting information to the insurance company.
Reddit user Hummvee69 shared this story on r/mildlyinfuriating, which accumulated almost a thousand upvotes, with dozens in the comments sharing their frustration with dental healthcare in general. Hummvee69 said they tried to reach out to their dentist several times to resolve the insurance issue, only to be met with “ridiculously nasty” and rude behavior, as well as threats of unpaid collection.
An Insurance Representative Allegedly Disclosed That the Dentist Was Using an Incorrect Social Security Number
As for how the original poster discovered their dentist had been using the wrong Social Security number, they explained that they were forced to contact their insurance company after being blamed for the claim denial. The insurance representative confirmed that the error was on the dentist’s end, which ultimately led to the issue being resolved. However, many commenters argued that the dentist should not be allowed to walk away from such a mistake without consequences.
“Name drop the dentist and get a new one (if possible),” demanded a Redditor, with almost half a thousand people upvoting in agreement. “Dental insurance sucks just as much as health insurance,” sighed another. “They’re not gonna be a dental office for long if they don’t know how to submit an insurance claim,” remarked a third.
Many commenters shared their own horror stories about dental care and potentially fraudulent billing practices. “It’s genuinely insane how bad dental is,” one commenter wrote. As for the OP, they said they have no intention of ever returning to that dentist.
As an added twist, Hummvee69 later left a comment explaining why the dentist had allegedly treated them so poorly during the insurance ordeal. According to OP, the dentist had recently lost his office manager and was forced to handle the administrative work himself. Still, OP felt that didn’t excuse his behavior: “Might explain why he was in such a bad mood, but he made it personal, so no sympathy.”
