Dr. Mark Leslie Engel, MD

My experience went wrong in the first five minutes of the appointment. I should have left when a patient came in cursing in front of my kids about his bill. He was outraged, but I was just upsetting that my kids were listening and the person behind the counter was making it so much worse. The medical assistant who took us into the room said, "Sorry, it happens all the time." Still can't believe it happened to me. They have extra fees that they are not upfront with. We went for a contact fitting and glasses and wanted to use our MetLife insurance so I went with this office. We did not find out about the extra cost just for the eye exam until it was billed (20+ years and I have never been charged these fees for eyeglass and contact s). Sadly I asked ahead of time both the insurance company and the doctorâ??s office about what the cost was going to be. The office did not discuss the extra office visit fee. MetLife paid for one of my children but not the other because the… doctorâ??s office sent it to my health insurance and not Met Life due to a medical code. MetLife called the office manager about resubmitting and they would not. The reason given to MetLife was that in the past they did not pay, but did not have a case to share with MetLife to support the claim. My Health Insurance also called and they were as shocked as I was. They did not have to change the code they just had to re-submit so the insurance companies could pay together, reducing my co-pay. Insurance is not a license to overcharge. I went to Costco Optical in Ocean for the rest of my family because they take insurance, and it was less money for me and the insurance company. It was painless and a much better experience.

Dr. Engel treated both my mother and me; both of us have had surgeries and follow-up care. Dr. Engel is an excellent doctor. Wait time during visit is significant, so you have to figure on being there for at least an hour or more when you go. Exams were always thorough and office staff is good. I moved out of the area 4 years ago, not long after my eye surgery, and I regret that Dr. Engel is no longer my eye doctor. I would recommend him.