Hi my name is Sherry I have an appointment on March 30 for the consult I have Tricare Prime for a Dr. in Palms springs the closes place that will do the surgery to Twentynine Palms the girl taking my info over the phone said that there will be a payment of $1500 out of pocket payment for nutrition classes Vitamins and trainer does this seem right? I don't want to get rip off seems that tricare could cover the nutrition classes and vitamins is there a cheaper way?

I would appreciate any help I could get

Sherry

No tricare won't cover that. You may want to try another office if possible. That sounds like a total rip off to me.

I had to pay 100 out of pocket for some protien shake stuff the doc wanted me to take. Then 50 for the phsyc eval.

Closest to home isn't always best. I'd shop around for a different clinic, and compare pricing. I have Tricare Prime, and my out of pocket was only about $100, which included office visit copays and the overnight at the hospital on the day of surgery. Tricare will not pay for nutrition classes or food products, so consider the source - very high profit for the surgeon's office. The Nutritionist at my surgeon's office rolled her fees into the doctors bills, so Tricare ultimately did pay for that. It's all in how it's billed by the clinic.

Good luck!

Dave

Hey, I think you are going to the same surgeon I went to!

The $1500 is the only thing I had to pay.

And they are worth EVERY PENNY.

Hey, I think you are going to the same surgeon I went to!

The $1500 is the only thing I had to pay.

would that Doc happen to be Ramy Awad?

Yes

Thank you all for your replies it's a huge help!!!!

Let me know if you need to know anything else.

I am in 29 Palms too.

I don't have the same insurance, but the surgery was $2500 out of pocket, then I had to pay co-pays on all the other pre-surgery stuff.

I have Tricare Prime, I had to pay $480 out of pocket for the protien stuff that i needed to eat and take, and for some multivitamins ect. I know a few people in my area who didnt have to pay anything but I liked the office i was going to and felt that it was a good place that i was comfortable with so i decided to pay it, Hey Tricare pays every dollar of my surgery and out of the entire seminar group of about 15 people I was the only person who had 100 percent coverage for the surgery no copays no nothing, so i felt that the 480 for my nutrition presurgery & a few weeks after surgery was worth it.

I have Tricare Prime and only have to pay $70 for my nutritionist appointments. For protein and multivitamins I was given some guidelines and found Designer Whey at GNC and Flinstone Complete chewable at Wal-mart. You have a Health and Wellness center available to you so you can use the exercise physiologist that works in the office. You have free gym membership, so basically I think the doc you chose is ripping you off or isn't a covered provider.

I have Tricare standard. My nutricionist appointment was done over the phone and through emails. It was billed through the facility I used. Same with the behavorial specialist. I just saw the final billing amount from the doctors office and surgery center a bit ago. It was over $20,000. Out of that I paid a total of less than $100 in co-pays ( EKG, pre-op physcial, chest xray, blood work, and prescriptions). I got my Protein powders from Trader Joes, and Atkins brand.

Sherry, if you're willing to travel and switch to Standard, you may like coming up my way.