You will be billed for the air you breathe if you go to the Allergy Center. The first time I went at end of my appointment I was asked to give a review to the practice, and I was so happy and so satisfied with the service provided by Dr. Dubuske, that I gave them a great review because in 11 years I have been living here, is the second time that a doctor really takes their time with a patient, and it was not the typical drive-through approach... but oh boy... I did not see the bill surprises coming and here is where things got questionable, and I realized they will find ways to bill patients in a way that perhaps ensures they get paid for full services whenever they can instead of the contractual fees negotiated with insurances. Every appointment I had I was given 3 to 4 breathing tests, perhaps more, but for some they asked me to sign waivers so "IF the insurance did not cover" then I was responsible for paying "no more than $50 a test." I received the first bill and those tests were not covered by the insurance, and were more than $50. So before my follow up appointments, I did my research, and realized that those breathing tests for which they were asking me to sign a waiver, were not covered by insurance and were not considered to be medically necessary, but more experimental, or whatever the term is. The practice, however, knew already that the insurance will not cover. So talking to people in the terms of "IF your insurance does not cover" is not honest and intentionally misleading because they know first hand and for a fact, that the insurance, at least mine, will not cover. Certainly this is a questionable and unsound business practice, as they are not being honest with their patients. So what I did next was to refuse to take any tests that would require me to sign a waiver and confronted the practice on it. Of course the did not like it, but they acknowledged that it was not covered. They also may have made a note on my file that I would only get the breathing tests that were necessary and covered by my insurance. Of all the ones they administered, only one type of them seems to have been medically necessary and covered. SO KEEP THIS IN MIND IF YOU PLAN TO GO THERE. Then, the testing came, and I was told to go to LabCorp and upon asking whether that was an in-network provider, they knew in advance that they were not, but I was told that they would waive any costs because they wanted this Allergy Centers business, and it was on the same building, etc. etc. I said that I had a preferred provided that I knew was in network and even if had to wait longer due to a paper referral, I wanted to go to an in-network provider. They did their sales pitch and assured me that I was not going to be billed, because LabCorp wanted their business that they were going to waive any bills for LabCorp on my account. I gave them an opportunity, and guess what? I was billed twice by this out-of-network provider for different reasons, so of course I had to invest a lot of time and calls, and conversations trying to resolve the issue.
After I met my deductible, coinsurance, you name it, the practice continued to find ways to charge for more services. I just called to pay one outstanding bill, to find out that I have two more they alleged are outstanding for services in August. Meanwhile, other than the bill I got from them of close to $1K, I had not received any others. In fact, when I called on November 8, 2018 to make a payment, no one mentioned anything about any outstanding bills in my account and the total amount I owed informed to me on the call then, was very different than the one I was given back in November, so Merry Christmas to me!
My humble advice, ensure that you ask your insurance and the provider for services you are going to receive, what is covered by your insurance, and if you are asked to sign any waivers or other non-traditional documents, be suspicious, and ask, ask, ask, even if they do not like it. Also, they will claim that they will not know what the insurance will pay until they bill them. That is not necessarily fully accurate. Doctors practices bill based on codes processed by the insurances, and some of those codes will determine what is medically necessary versus not, or experimental, or what is not covered at all. So the providers know their codes and know what they are billing for, but that is the part that us patients do not see. So be savvy and responsible with your benefits management and ensure you also review your insurance coverage, benefits, or call them before going to a provider even if they are in-network. With this practice, I am very torn. The doctor is good, and while he may come across as blunt sometimes or pushing for the use of medication, I did remain under the impression that he was very knowledgeable and I felt satisfied with my interactions with him. However, the billing practices are not honest, are questionable and unsound, so I am not sure if I will return. read more
