Bait & Switch Right in Our Own Backyard
Dear Editor:
Dr. Lehman's article about bait and switch ["Bait and Switch: Are You Guilty?" November 2018 issue] came to our office at a time when we have witnessed several examples of this right in our backyard. Several patients have come into our office with similar stories about chiropractic offices who were listed as providers for a certain carrier. After initial visits, which included pricey out-of-network services that were considered not to be covered, such as surface EMG, these patients were told their coverage was very limited, but their chiropractic needs were much more than what their insurances were likely to cover.
In one case, a patient was told the office would be sanctioned if it billed for more than seven visits, so that was all it would submit. In several of these cases, patients were told they needed as many as 65 visits in a six-month period; and that they had to reach that number, one way or another. In one case, the patient was told that if they went on a week-long vacation, the missed visits would have to be made up either the week before or week after.
There were also charges for canceled visits unless 48-hour notice was given, and incentives were offered for cash prepayment. Scare tactics were made about the potential for spinal-cord damage if less than the recommended number of visits was completed. But not a word was said about what would happen after the magic number of visits was rendered.
What's more, these patients, who were already confused because they had choses an office based on lower out-of-pocket costs, were actually offered a free office visit if they posted a positive Yelp or Google review.
As bad as the portrayal was in Dr. Lehman's article, some of these stories are even worse. And I cringe thinking about what a local medical colleague would think about our profession after so many of us have worked so hard to cultivate excellent working relationships with other specialties.
For all the good work we as a profession strive for, all it takes is a few bad apples to discredit all we do. Hopefully this nonsense will stop.
Warren H. Landesberg, DC
Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.
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