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In-Network vs Out-of-Network



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Okay so I got a call from Dr. Mirza's office and they told me that my insurance will cover the procedure, but that they are considered out of network for my provider. Now I am sure that they will answer all my questions when I have my first visit with them on the 10th, but I am curious to know what this means for me. I have a higher deductible for out of network providers, so I am not sure at this point if I want to go in for my appointment with the office. I did some research and found that he is a great doctor, but I don't want to spend thousands of dollars on something that my insurance has agreed to cover. So does anyone further along in the insurance process know what this means? Will the hospital charge me more as well? Do you know of any great UHC network doctors in Houston? I would love to keep Dr. Mirza, but I just can't see myself paying thousand's of dollars more than what I would already have to pay.



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I am not familiar with your insurance, but typically that does mean that you will pay significantly more. If I were in your situation, I would try to research some doctors that are in network to see if you feel you would be happy with them. If so, why pay more than you have to. If you can't find anyone else that you feel comfortable with, it may be worth it to pay the out of pocket expense. As you will see on these forums, not everyone has a great experience. Putting yourself into the hands of a doctor you are comfortable with is a great start.

Good luck!

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Hey! With my insurance the dr was out of network and the hospital was in. So I fit know. My out of network cost out of pocket was 7000 in network was 5000. Depends how it works

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I have UHC myself. Not sure of course which plan you have, but UHC is very strict. I would call UHC directly if I were you. For bariatric services UHC requires that you go thru United Resource Networks. They will also tell you your requirements, like if you need a 6 month diet, Bmi, etc.

also, out network is not cheap, call UHC!!!

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

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        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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