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Advice on insurance and paperwork?



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On December 18, my surgeon's office sent my paperwork to BCBS fir approval. Wrll denial, so I can get the approval through my secondary. Anyways, I started calling the day after to makr sure they got it. Well 7 business days later they still dont have it. They said it only takes a day or 2 to receive.

My question is should I call the doctors office back and keep hounding them? I called twice, and the lady said she sent it. She also said that she needs the denial letter from primary. But when I talk to secondary, they said all they have to do is do the surgery, bill them and they will pay. My secondary is Horizon NJ health.

Anyadvice? I dont want to be a nuisance but I also dont want to procrastinate.

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Sorry for the typos I was using voice to text :-(

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I would give them few days. Things may be delayed with the holidays. Maybe wait until the end of next week to follow up.

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I found that I really had to stay on top of everyone to make this happen. When I had my psychological eval the psychologist took two and a half weeks to send documentation. This was after she said it would be sent within three days. (I am a psychologist...I know how long it takes to write these reports...not three weeks). I also stayed in contact with the surgeon/insurance and made sure everyone was communicating. I believe this helped to get a quick approval and now i am headed into surgery January 29. Good luck! Don't be afraid to advocate for yourself!

Jennifer

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But when I talk to secondary, they said all they have to do is do the surgery, bill them and they will pay. My secondary is Horizon NJ health.

I've been working in medical administration for over 15 years. I have NEVER had a secondary insurance that will "just pay" if you bill them (not saying they don't exist, just that I've never seen it)... although I've never worked with Horizon NJ Health.

Generally, the secondary follows the decisions of the primary unless you get something different in writing. So if your primary insurance does not cover a procedure, your secondary has two options: follow along with the denial or cover as if they were primary.

I would never counsel anyone on my team to perform a procedure without a written authorization/approval from the secondary in your situation. The likelihood that we would get paid for it would be slim.

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I've been working in medical administration for over 15 years. I have NEVER had a secondary insurance that will "just pay" if you bill them (not saying they don't exist, just that I've never seen it)... although I've never worked with Horizon NJ Health.

Generally, the secondary follows the decisions of the primary unless you get something different in writing. So if your primary insurance does not cover a procedure, your secondary has two options: follow along with the denial or cover as if they were primary.

I would never counsel anyone on my team to perform a procedure without a written authorization/approval from the secondary in your situation. The likelihood that we would get paid for it would be slim.

They will cover as primary. Yet my primary still hasnt received any information which is stressful. I have everything ready to go for the 20thm and kust want to know it ok. if i dont hear bk by Wednesday i will be calling.

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How do you like Dr Boynton?

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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.
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • 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.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

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

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    • KimBaxleyWilson

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