Rant #3,904: You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)

I had my dermatologist appointment yesterday morning, and yes, I did have one growth removed--right near the cancer I had previously removed--so it wasn't a pain-free visit, if you know what I mean.

It really scared me because it is right near the other area on my scalp, but the doctor said it is not necessarily linked with the cancer I had taken off the top of my head, so that made me feel a bit better.

He took this new growth off of me, and I have to put ointment on the spot for the next week or so, so it can heal.

Hopefully, that is the end of it, but I thought the same thing when they took the other growth off of me, and look what happened with that!

So where I stand health-wise is that I am awaiting the results of my catscan and this latest lesion removal, and waiting with baited breath.

I just want the peace of mind to know that I am healthy--

And the detached retina problem I have is at least manageable, at least for now.

Other health concerns have nothing to do with my health, per se, but about how my health is being handled by an outside provider.

The dental aspect of my health is being taken care of by an outside provider from my Medicare insurance, as is my son's dental care.

We chose an outside provider because I wanted to have the best dental care possible--my family has a bad history with our teeth, and it continues with my son--and the Medicare plan we had simply did not cut it, so to speak.

Anyway, we have been with this outside plan for several years, and it does provide exactly what I signed up for.

The problem is the monthly bill.

I know that most plans like this--and most entities that require a monthly bill--have moved over to paying electronically through the Internet, but I guess I am old fashioned, and I prefer to pay as many of my bills as I possibly can through the mail--

Yes, writing an old fashioned check and sending it through the old fashioned U.S. Mail.

Companies do not like this, as doing it electronically, they get their payments immediately.

Well, the dental company we use clearly doesn't like it either, and I told them when we signed up with them that we want to pay by check and through the U.S. Mail.

What has happened is that, pretty consistently, we get two or three bills through the mail, I pay them immediately, and that is that--

But then the next bill never comes, and I get contacted through my email to pay online.

I call up the company, try to be nice about it, they say they will look into it, they look into it, fix it, and the same cycle begins again ...

We get two or three bills through the mail, I pay them immediately, and that is that--

But then the next bill never comes, and I get contacted through my email to pay online.

This has been going on for years, and yes, it just happened again.

I called twice on Tuesday about this continuing situation--

The first time, the operator pretty much refused to do anything about it, the second time, the operator sent me over to the grievance department, and the same thing happened again, meaning they would look into it, eventually fix it, and then--

The next bill never comes, and I get contacted through my email to pay online.

What this does is make my bill paying late on this site, which does impact your credit score.

I have told them this, and they say there is nothing they can do about it.

I tell them that the solution is an easy one; cancel our plans, and then set up new plans with new ID numbers and basically start from scratch, but they refuse to do this.

On Tuesday, the woman I spoke to told me--and remember, this is an employee of the company that I am having the problem with--that I should call the New York State Insurance Department and tell them that I am being "forced" to pay my bill electronically, and see what they have to say about it.

Her telling me this simply tells me that I am not the only one having this problem, and I am currently weighing my options about whether to do this or not.

Look, we all have the right to pay bills the way we want to pay them, and not have that dictated by the companies that serve us.

If you want to pay electronically ... if you want to pay by snail mail ... if you literally want to go to the office and pay in person right then and there each month ... that is your right to choose how you will do it, and the company you are paying doesn't have a say in that decision.

I pay my largest bill of the month--my car bill--by writing a check and sending it to the lender via U.S. Mail.

That is how I choose to pay them, and I have never had a problem paying for my car(s) this way.

Why should this dental company give me all of this grief?

Obviously, there is a quirk in this system which they refuse to address, since most people probably pay their bill to them electronically.

I don't, and I don't think others do, and you cannot force people to pay their bills electronically.

Period.

Let's see what happens this time, but I know exactly what is gong to happen--

We get two or three bills through the mail, I pay them immediately, and that is that--

But then the next bill never comes, and I get contacted through my email to pay online.

Sounds like a broken record, doesn't it?