[Resolved]  Indian Health Organisation — Discount on Dental treatments

Address:	Mumbai City, Maharashtra, 400705
Website:	www.iho.in

I am a member of Indian Health Organization and I have taken the THC Gold Family Plan for 1 year. IHO ID: IHO-2015-16/7207952. I wanted to utilize the dental services under the plan and contacted your Customer Care to fix an appointment with your empanelled dentist. The appointment was taken for my minor son Vivaan for Root canal and filling treatment with ‘My Dentist’, Sector 17 Vashi, Navi Mumbai on 8th October, 2015 at 6.00 pm. When we reached there on the appointed date and time, we were told that IHO did not inform the clinic of the appointment and therefore the pediatric doctor is not there to attend the patient. The staff said that they will give us the earliest appointment with the child specialist dentist for the next day i.e. 9th October, 2015. We were asked to get an OPG X-Ray done from the Centre referred by them and submit the same immediately as a confirmation from our end to go ahead with the dental treatment with them. The OPG X-Ray was taken (cost Rs.700) and submitted immediately to the clinic and they confirmed an appointment for 9th October at 8.45 pm. We reached the clinic on the appointed date and time. The owner of the clinic Dr. Sharad Kumar told us that a pediatrician doctor will be arranged on payment of Rs.5, 000/- who will be present with the child during the RC treatment being carried out by the clinic doctor. Dr Sharad Kumar also informed that they will charge Rs.6000/- per RC treatment with cap for two teeth and Rs.1500/- for filling of three teeth. The charges he said is after giving discount of 25%. The standard charges of dentists in sector 17 Vashi is Rs.5500 for RC with cap and Rs.900 for filling. When the overcharging issue was discussed with DR. Sharad Kumar, he informed that under the IHO arrangement, IHO refers its members to them against which dentists have to pay to IHO commission of 25%. The Smile Please Clinic is already overcharging, forget the discount, and is also putting patients to incur additional costs on expensive X-Ray reports and visiting doctors From the above case it is very clear that IHO is cheating the members after collecting membership charges. The discount on dental treatments is a bogus scheme. The members finally land up paying more for the treatment which they would have paid to other dentists without the scheme. It would make more sense if IHO fixes the discounted treatment charges with the dentists taking into consideration the standard market rates with 5% variation.