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Thread: Healthcare billing crap on the government dole

  1. #1
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    Healthcare billing crap on the government dole

    I now have Medicare coverage. Let me emphasize that

    1) I am grateful to have it
    2) it certainly is cheaper than the COBRA insurance from my workplace (Not sure if it is cheaper than our ACA policy)
    3) I am happy with the quality of health care I receive

    I have always said that despite my conviction that expanded social programs of government funded health care is a wrong move for our country, i would be happy enough with the care, mainly because I dont know enough to spot problems in the low level care I consume.

    But.

    Now that I actually have a doctor and am under a doctors care* the usual billing problems show up. Yeah I’ve heard that and the stories about them.Even though I’m doing my damnedest to not spend my prime retirement years fussing around with stupid medical bills, they Consume my attention.


    So my very first foray into medical testing, a mammogram, took place last February. Here it is October and I’m still getting bills for that event. The first bill for $300 I just paid. I didn’t want to investigate it even tho my friend said”you should look into that, mammograms are supposed to be free.” Yeah whatever, just keep me out of medical billing hell.

    So when the second bill came for $200 last week I thought oh fk, this is ridiculous. I sat down with all of the billing notices from our federal government, the Medicaid statements, and couldn’t figure out much.

    So I called the hospital where the mammogram event took place. They made a mistake. They overbilled me.Hunh, what a surprise. Not.

    This is so incredibly irritating because this is the first medical bill I have received That I remember in decades. I mean it’s the first procedure I’ve had that I can think of in a long time. Well I did get a dog bite years ago when I was employed and that was more straightforward in that I had insurance, I had a deductible, I had to pay something on it and that was expected. But this whole mix of government paid Medicare and a supplement plan is messy.

    This is mostly a rant, no real purpose other than to rant.


    * I didn’t go to a doctor for around 15 years. Am now going to a Doctor who does not take insurance but requires a fee. I like that model. It’s so damn simple.P and it keeps me somewhat out of medical billing hell.

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    I agree - medical billing is hell.

    I was sent to collections by my employer 2 years ago for a bill that was never sent to me. It was only $100 and I owed it. But they never billed me. They said we told them to never contact us again when they called us. They never called us. I work there! They could have just emailed me, or walked to my office and asked me. I informed the director of that dept and they fixed it. And I paid the bill after they sent it to me,

  3. #3
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    Medicare has been smooth in over the year I have been on it with no mistakes. I have had plenty of insurance issues through the years.

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    That's good to hear Teacher Terry. We are counting the days until we can both be on it. Although I am on my husband's work plan and they just paid for my Shingrex shot and TDaP shot with no copay, so I am happy about that.

  5. #5
    Yppej
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    IL at what age do you plan to stop getting mammograms? I have debated stopping. Breast cancer "survival" rates are high because mammograms find many very slow growing early stage cancers that would never kill anyone because you will die first of something else. I have cut back to 5 years and soon may drop them all together. At some point the radiation from the mammogram is a greater risk than the cancer risk.

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    Yppej, this may help you think about this question:
    https://www.health.harvard.edu/scree...s-after-age-75

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    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    Interesting that the recommendation is every two years. I didn’t know that.

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    That recommendation received changed from 1 year to 2.

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    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tammy View Post
    That recommendation received changed from 1 year to 2.
    I only went for a mammogram because Imhad a cyst near my breast. It was a cyst, my doc did ultrasound and thought it was a cyst, I knew it was a cyst, but gotta test this stiff I guess.

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    Glad it was okay!

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