Americans in 29 states have filed 510 complaints of coronavirus-related surcharges at dentist offices, senior living facilities, salons and restaurants, according to The Washington Post.
The Post surveyed U.S. attorney general offices and financial departments in 52 states and territories. In some states, medical insurance law requires healthcare providers to offer refunds to patients who feel they have been unfairly charged for personal protective equipment, while other states let businesses add extra fees, as long as they're disclosed upfront.
Though social media posts of customer receipts and reports filed with attorneys general and state consumer protection departments are some of the only ways to track COVID-19 surcharges, most reports have come from dental patients, according to the Post.
Chad Gehani, DDS, immediate past president of the American Dental Association, said the cost of PPE for dentists has risen.
"The choice to charge an additional fee for PPE is an individual dental practice business decision," Dr. Gehani said in an email to the Post. "The American Dental Association strongly encourages dental offices to disclose any additional fees upfront to patients and to document these charges in the patient record. The ADA has recommended that dental benefit carriers should either adjust the maximum allowable fees for all procedures to cover the increased costs of PPE or allow an additional standard fee per date of service per patient."
Since August, officials in New York, Connecticut, Arizona, Michigan and Massachusetts issued guidance warning of the consequences businesses may face if they violate consumer protection and insurance laws. New York officials even instructed health insurers to refund patients after receiving complaints about providers, specifically dentists, improperly adding fees to cover PPE.