"Okay... so here is an absolute honest review of what I've experienced. I signed up and called the first dentist on the list. The person answering the phone never even heard of the plan... I bought the Alliance HealthCard Gold Card. The plan for the family was suppose to be $199.95 but when I called to get the plan, the salesman offered 15% off if I made the purchase "today". So I ended up paying $170 for the family and got an extra three months tacked on to the 12 month plan.
Anyway... so I check another dentist office and they say they heard of the plan and to make an appointment. I go in and I get someone totally different, and they are all sorts of confused as to who's going to pay for what I don't. I try and explain the best I can that the plan is a discount plan, but they don't seem to get it. They ask for the web address and go into my plan. They then call dentalplans.com and ask "So who exactly pays the difference?" Finally, they get it... and explain it to me. Because I've got he plan, the dentist office agrees to accept my partial payment as full. So how do they agree as to what I pay? By simply saying that I will end up paying the same amount as what Cigna Insurance would pay if the dentist office would submit a claim. So I ask what a root canal would cost... on the example (on the website) it says something like $950... down to $550. Then I ask the girl in the office the actual costs. $975... down to $850. That's not exactly what I'm looking for. As I'm about to tell them to go pound sand, they change their tune and start reducing fees.
I finished my 2nd appointment and was asked to pay for the 1st and 2nd appointment as follows: $195 for initial visit (with a ton of digital x-rays) and pictures. $980 for the root canal and $175 for the "build up" for the eventual crown in a month. The total ended up being $1,350 or something around there. I then reminded them to look at my paperwork again. The woman then brought the total down to $912 and I told her the initial visit was suppose to be "complimentary". She said, "But you're getting all of those other discounts, and that's not right." I told her I bought a plan and she needed to go talk with someone and fix it. Two minutes later she came back with an adjusted final bill of $717... all the way down from $1,355. Not bad... although I did have to fight a little bit for it.
Good luck... but it seems to work... because even dentists are hurting for work.
Eric"
"I check with my dentist to see if he would accept this plan, he was listed as a provider. He did not know how they got his name and he stated that he was not a provider nor would he accept the plan."
"I purchased a membership in the Preferred Network Access because in the section How This Plan Can Save You Money they state, "General dentists who participate in Preferred Network Access have agreed to accept the Preferred Network Access contracted rate as payment in full for services performed". Once they had my payment, they refused to allow me access to the contracted fee schedule so I have no way of knowing what I should be charged. I immediately emailed them requesting access to the fee schedule. They waited over three days to send a reply stating they would not let me have access to the fee schedule and then refused to refund my money because I had waited three days from purchase to request a refund. As far as I'm concerned, this is deceptive advertising. They refuse to back up their claims of providing discount dental care."