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| - My son, off from school, needed an annual checkup so he tried Provinces. We have medical insurance through my company. But when we tried to set up an appt, the company's rep demanded a social security #. I declined, citing fears of ID theft, and asked if we could use something else-I could also provide a Visa card # for assurance. That way they'd be protected if for some reason they didn't get paid (BTW-my credit score is very high and no one in my family has ever not paid a bill). But she persisted, insisting on a Social Security #. (Legally, no one has to provide a SS #-it was never meant to be used as an identifier # for private businesses who see it as a convenient way to collect bills). We finally gave up, so my son's now searching for another dental practice. This tells me a lot about the company's (lack of) ethics, and lack of interest in serving the local community.
To Melissa's response below: I doubt if most customers would choose to provide their social security #'s if they weren't forced to in order to get dental service; and many may not realize the personal security dangers. As I said, the federal SS # was never meant to be used by private businesses as an identifier # and to make it more convenient to collect on claims. With me, you have a national dental insurance company, and a billing code and process, so I'm sure you can pre-guarantee payment with a quick phone call to MetLife. Sad that you put profits over customer service and working with people like us.
UPDATE: my son did find another dentist, and this one only required the last four digits of my Social Sec #. Much more customer-friendly approach.
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