Dentist Battles With Insurance Company Over Coverage During Pandemic

Robert Klein has spent more than a decade building his dental practice. He has four offices stretching from Kearney to Kansas City.

He’s never closed his doors until this past spring when non-essential businesses were asked to shut down because of COVID-19. The only services Klein could offer were for emergency procedures.

About 99% of his business disappeared, Klein said, at a cost of more than $1 million. “And that’s money we will never recoup,” Klein said.

Klein was initially hopeful that his business interruption insurance, which in 13 years he’s never once used, would cover at least some of the loss. He immediately called his broker.

“And the response was, ‘Oh, we can’t cover those kinds of things. That would bankrupt us,’” Klein said.