Monkeyshines

The retirees of Local 282, the Amalgamated Transit Union (“ATU;” “what’s ‘Ah-two?’”) local at Regional Transit Service in Rochester, the so-called “Alumni,” negotiated special reduced pricing at Q-Dental.
The way it works is our Regional Transit retiree dental-insurance pays its part, and we co-pay the additional.
Our dental-insurance pays a pittance. Our co-pay could be potentially be a fortune.
This was true of my old dentist. My retiree dental-insurance paid its part, and I made up the difference, which was usually huge.
The “Alumni” are the union retirees of Regional Transit Service (“Transit,” “RTS”), a public employer, the transit-bus operator in Rochester and environs.
For 16&1/2 years (1977-1993) I drove transit bus for RTS.
The Alumni was a reaction to the fact Transit management retirees ran roughshod over union retirees — a continuation of the bad vibes at Transit, management versus union.
Transit had a club for long-time employees, and I was in it. It was called the “15/25-year Club;” I guess at first the “25-year Club.” But they lowered the employment requirement, and renamed it “15/25-year Club.” The employment requirement was lowered even more; I joined at 10 years.
My employ there ended in 1993 with my stroke; and the “Alumni” didn’t exist then.
The Alumni is a special club — you have to join. It’s an Amalgamated Transit Union functionary. (ATU is nationwide.)
It isn’t just a social club.
It has bylaws, officers, and an Executive Board.
In many ways it’s just like our union-local, except it entertains issues of interest to retirees; like Medicare, healthcare, and diabetes and Alzheimer’s.
The Alumni negotiated reduced pricing with Q-Dental.
As I understand it, a porcelain-fused crown cost quite a bit more with Q-Dental’s regular pricing, more than their Alumni pricing.
With the Alumni my co-pay is $422; still substantial, but less.
On January 28, I had two appointments at Q-Dental lumped together.
One was a cleaning and dental-exam; the second was three fillings.
Q-Dental’s Alumni charge for the second appointment was $214.
My retiree dental-insurance pays $65.
I co-payed the difference: $149.
An “Account-Ledger” statement from Q-Dental arrived the other day, saying I owed $45.
The $45 amount was highlighted in yellow magic-marker. Second Notice! Gloom-and-doom.
I had no idea what was going on. —I thought I had already co-paid as required.
Okay, can the old stroke-survivor do this? It’s an incredibly complex issue, and I’m no good at doing phonecalls.
“You should know one thing before we start. You’re dealing with a stroke-survivor. My ability to do this may be compromised. There may be stony silences and halting speech. I may not make sense.”
Turns out their Henrietta Office, where I did the two appointments, never charged the co-pay for the cleaning/exam, the $45, which is what they say I owe.
We executed a credit-card charge to pay that, but we still are unsure of other charges on their statement.
The amount my retiree dental-insurance will pay is nowhere near what they charged.
We sit quietly with our hands folded.

• “Q-Dental” is an institutionalized supplier of dental services in the Rochester area.
• “What’s ‘ah-two?’” is something my mother asked seeing my ATU (Amalgamated Transit Union) button.
• I had a stroke October 26, 1993, and it slightly compromised my speech. (Difficulty putting words together.)
• “We” is me and my wife of 43+ years, “Linda.”