At long last... I had my wisdom teeth out back in April and, at the time, Cigna (my dental insurer) refused to cover the extractions. While our dental insurance isn't great, this was a major disappointment -- the oral surgeon's bill was close to $1300. Had the extractions been covered, our co-pay would have been about half this amount, so... I went ahead and appealed Cigna's decision. In mid-July, I received the welcome news that they'd changed their mind -- they were now willing to cover the extractions. And so began a protracted battle between the oral surgeon's office, Cigna, and little old me.

Given all of the problems that I had in getting the two on the same page, I have to hand it to Cigna. They were far less problematic than the oral surgeon's office, who seemed to fight me every step of the way. Anyway, by the time I got: (1) my teeth out, (2) the appeal approved, (3) the oral surgeon to bill Cigna, (4) Cigna to make their payment, and (5) the oral surgeon to apply the payment properly, and to write off the appropriate amounts such that we'd actually get what they owe us, just under seven months had passed! During this time, I made innumerable phone calls and spent countless hours (yes, hours) getting this all straightened out, but... We're now due a refund of just over $660. Assuming that the check actually shows up in 3-4 weeks as promised, this will soon be a distant (albeit dismal) memory. I can only imagine the number of people that don't have either the time or the inclination to sort out things like this, and end up getting ripped off in the process.

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"On Dental Insurance, Appeals, and Pulling Teeth" was first published at fivecentnickel.commortgage calculator