Andy13

What a rotten day yesterday... I'm still upset, and reeling from what happened. It's kind of shocking this happened to me.

My vision hasn't been doing very well, so I decided to go to an eye glasses place in DC that specialized in exams and making new lens. My health insurance is from California (I'm under my parents, as I'm a college student here in DC). A quick phone call through relay confirmed an appointment for yesterday, and they said they would accept Blue Shield (which is what I have). I was looking forward to this appointment, as I wanted to get down to the bottom of my vision problems.

Well, I entered the office, and talked to the secretary through paper and pen. At first, they were really nice and courteous. When the secretary couldn't pull up the Blue Shield information that I gave her, I explained that it was under my parents' name, and had her look it up again. She was able to pull it up, but claimed that I had no vision on my insurance. I knew this wasn't true, as in California, I got plenty of eye exams and replacement lens under my insurance. One thing that threw me off was that she said she was unable to verify the ID of my insurance, then that vision coverage wasn't available. At this point, she was getting impatient, and said that the price to see the doctor would be $126. I'm not sure if that's normal for uninsured patients or not, but I couldn't afford that (and then have to get new lens too, which would cost a lot too). I decided to try one more time, this time writing down all the information on one page to make sure it was all clear, and asked her politely if she could try calling Blue Shield one more time, just to clear up the information, which she did. I felt bad for taking up her time, but I really wanted to have a vision test to make sure everything was OK, and not risk being denied by my insurance (you never know).

When she finished with her call, she said that both my insurance company and my father said I wasn't covered, period, and that there was nothing she could do for me. I was thinking, wait a minute, you called my dad? I then asked her politely why she called my dad, as I did not want him involved in this, and I felt that was overreaching the bounds. She then looked really angry and asked in a rude way why I provided her the phone number in the first place. I then tried to explain that I put the number down so she could verify them to the Blue Shield operator in the first place. While I was writing that down, she grabbed the paper and pen from me, and made a "no" motion with her hands, looking exasperated. I was cut off, not allowed to communicate, which is a gross violation of my communication rights. I then grabbed the paper back from her, but not in an extreme way, just grabbed it, and began writing. She grabbed it again from me, then freaked out and called for the guy sitting next to her in the glasses area, and he came up to me, and motioned rudely to the door, then kind of came up close to me, and escorted me to the door. I was kicked out! They were being VERY intimidating, and I felt shaken by the whole thing... plus pissed off, because I was denied the right to communicate. If I was hearing, I would be able to talk and not have that be taken away from me.

In hindsight, I may have made two mistakes:

*Maybe I shouldn't have asked so much about the insurance - maybe I should have just left and called my insurance company. However, I feel that as a patient, I do have a right to make sure everything's clarified, and I do know my insurance company covers my vision. Plus, I'm on a tight schedule, as I'm a student.

*Maybe I shouldn't have grabbed the paper from her. However, she took the paper away, so I had to grab it back. It was a way of me being assertive, and I did not grab it hard or in an aggressive way. It's hard to explain through words, but I hope you know what I mean.

After the whole incident, I felt very upset and shaken, and disgusted by their unprofessionality, so I called my insurance company. The insurance company assured me I was covered in vision, and wrote down a grievance towards that optical facility. However, I feel really scarred by being depleted of the right to communicate, and being escorted out in such an intimidating manner, that I want to do more. I'm not sure, however, what I can do - and I can't afford a good lawyer. There's also no proof, and I'm not sure if they even violated any laws.

Any ideas?

Thanks, and so sorry for the LONG post. If you have any questions, please ask.

Deafness

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Bottesini

So she must have lied if she said your dad said you are not insured?

You can get a free lawyer, but I am not sure how.

Maybe your dad could help?

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Liza

They were not professional so they lost your business. Find another eye doctor that can treat you right. Sorry that happened.. hope you feel better.

One thing to consider -- you really do have vision coverage, but this doctor's office probably wasn't part of your insurance's network for that coverage.

jillio

Find another eye doctor. Give the new place your insurance information prior to your appointment, and make sure that they have verified coverage before you go to your appointment.

In the meantime, report to the Better Business Bureau and the Optomitrists' Association in D.C. exactly what you have told us here.

Good luck to you.

rockdrummer

First of all, I am sorry this happened to you. My advise would be to handle this on a case by case basis. As long as you did nothing wrong, report the incident through proper channels be that the police, ADA or whatever is appropriate in each situation. all the best!