Kevin* is fortunate to have health insurance through his job with a local construction company. Like most of us, he didn’t look very carefully at his options; he’s 34, generally healthy, and chose the plan with the lowest monthly cost. He makes about $35,000 a year, enough to keep the wolves away, but not enough …
Your doctor recommends a test or procedure. You’re a wise consumer. You ask your doctor or hospital to pre-authorize coverage, or maybe you even get the codes they will use to bill and call your insurer yourself. You get a pre-authorization reference number or a letter, but somewhere in the documents is a statement that …
What you don’t know might cost you! The air has already gotten a bit crisper on some of my morning walks. While that may mean apples and candy corn for some, it also signals open enrollment for health insurance for many of us. We have the most complicated healthcare system in the world, largely because …
Some people think of October as Trick or Treat time; Patient Advocates see it as the kickoff of health insurance open enrollment for the coming year, whether employer-sponsored, individual, and/or Medicare. It may not be as playful as donning a costume or carving a jack o’lantern, but approaching your open enrollment period with the …
Health Insurance Open Enrollment: Trick or Treat Read More »
Emergency. Dictionary.com defines it this way: “a sudden, urgent, usually unexpected occurrence or occasion requiring immediate action. “ In my healthcare experience lifetime, perhaps nothing has changed more than the role of the hospital emergency room. In my youth the hospital had two roles: caring for very ill or post-surgery patients needing nursing care until …
Health insurance is complicated and healthcare costs a lot. If you’re not up for a complicated read, here’s the short version: Don’t use out of network providers if you can avoid it. If you think healthcare is expensive, out of network healthcare is very expensive! But if you want to dig a bit deeper, read …
In or Out, Round About – Navigating Out of Network Providers Read More »
Anymore, it seems for most of us every medical bill has a surprise when we first open the envelope! How does a provider (doctor, hospital, laboratory, imaging center) decide how much healthcare costs? It’s a pretty closely guarded secret, and it’s not uniform across providers. But suffice it to say, it definitely requires some serious …
Inevitably when I’m asked what I do and respond that I’m a private patient advocate, one eyebrow raises, followed by “What’s that?” My “Private Patient Advocate” elevator speech goes something like this: “Private patient advocates are independent professionals that help patients and their families clarify options for managing their healthcare as well as the cost …
An advertisement arrived in my mail recently from a local hospital system offering a special promotion on “heart disease, stroke, and aneurysm prevention package testing.” The tests included were extensive, and the mailing screamed not to wait to schedule these “life-saving screenings.” And, by the way, these tests are normally valued at over $2100 but …
Before you jump in…Re-thinking preventive health screening Read More »
Monica* had driven herself to the emergency room at a local hospital late at night after experiencing severe abdominal pain. She was worried she might have appendicitis, and her insurance company nurse line had advised her to go to the emergency room. A CT scan, MRI, and blood work were ordered, and intravenous pain medication …
Caveat Emptor! (Or…a new twist in paying for healthcare) Read More »