I went to my eye doctor to get special contact lenses. I was assured multiple times by the office that my lenses were covered by insurance and that I could proceed with fittings (fittings can take up to four months to perfect). I was also told that I would receive a 1,000 discount if I did have to pay out of pocket but again as assured by the office manager that my insurance covered the lenses so I decided to go ahead with the fitting process.
After getting my medical records, it seems my doctor changed my billing code in March to the highest level of keratoconus lens fitting, which is a condition I was never notified that I had and after looking up how to diagnose this condition, I don’t believe he has all the necessary equipment to even diagnose this condition. He even stated he discussed treatment options and surgical options for this disease, which he didn’t. Moreover, I received a bill for my basic yearly eye exam three days after he made the billing code change. I now know this is because my insurance coverage lapsed the day before my appointment. This makes me think he was aware of my insurance issues but was never informed me, even though I continued to go back for fittings until mid April. Therefore, I never got a good faith estimate.
Come June, I get a bill for 3,600 dollars from my doctor. The biggest charge is for the contact lens fitting exam, which they claim was 2,300 (for the CPT code used, geographical average is 500-1000 and my new eye doctors fee is 1000). I called and they said my insurance lapsed the day before my appointment. They apologized for the confusion. They said they would call me back after getting back with him in two days. A week passed. No call. I called back. They said they’d get a hold of him and call me two days later. Another week has passed with no call. They so far are refusing to give me the promised discount for out of pocket patients (office manager says she didn’t write that down, the same one who encouraged me to proceed with fittings because “insurance covered it”) and have not gotten back to me.
After all this, the lenses are still shitty as the doctor ended up not being experienced. I only stayed with him because I was under the guise that insurance would cover the lenses. I now have had to go to another doctor and pay 2,000 out of pocket for those lenses plus the doctor fee (my new job doesn’t have eye insurance).
I want to write a demand email but want to know first if there are any laws broken or anything I can mention. Were any laws broken here? Do you have anything I should say in an email to them since they refuse to call me back?