In November of 2008 my family & I were looking for a dentist. We were referred to Dr. Washko's office by a family member. My husband and self have Cigna Insurance but my daughter had Medicaid. It is hard to locate a dentist who accepts Medicaid. The day I called to make an appt I asked the receptionist if thier office took Carolina Access Medicaid, she told me they did and I made our appts. My daughter & I had a joint appointment on January 15. I went in 15 minutes early to give them the forms and our insurance cards. My hygienist was ready for me first. My daughter and I both went to the room. The receptionist came in the room within a few minutes and asked if the Medicaid card I gave her was the only one we had. I told her that it was and it was the current one for the month. She said "Ok" and walked out. Within just a few minutes my daughters hygienist was ready for her and she went to another room to have her teeth cleaned. After the services were complete we went back to the reception desk in order to schedule our new appointments. The reception then stated "This is a medicaid card and we dont take medicaid, your total for today will be 124.00". I was in shock and said to her " you told me on the phone you took medicaid" at which point she argued that she thought I was talking of NC Health Choice which is a different type of Medicaid. I paid with a check and left. I called Medicaid to see if I could file the claim but they informed me it did not work that way. I called the office back and told them I could not afford to pay this and I didnt think it was fair. The receptionist response was "Hmm, well sorry". I then called my bank to stop payment on the check and filed a complaint with the NC State Attorney Generals Office. Dr. Washko's office response was that they told me on the phone when making the appointment and before the services they did not accept Medicaid and that I was assessed a fee for NSF check. All of which were lies. I have never made an appointment with them if they did not accept Medicaid.