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Insurance rant/advice help?



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Hi everyone! I saw a thread the other day in regards to Aetna insurance and all the posts on that thread were helpful and I'm hoping I can get some more input from you all to hold me over until I can call them tomorrow.

I had my consultation on Monday. When I scheduled the appointment I was told by the woman who knows everything about insurance that it'd all be covered by Aetna but I'd have to pay for the 90 day program and Psych eval ($300). When I got there, I was told I just had to pay my "specialist copay" but they couldn't see what it was and I wasn't sure if it was $35 or $50 so they told me that they will just send me the bill once they know what to charge me and I can pay at my next visit. I just checked my claims page and see that the appointment cost $404 and I'm going to be responsible for $235 of it. What the heck? That's more than half!

I looked up the "cost of care" of the sleep study at this hospital too and it says $3000. Is that what my insurance will be billed or what I will have to pay out of pocket?

I'm really starting to stress. I was so excited to see insurance covered this procedure and while I know it wasn't ALL covered, I'm 3 days in and haven't even gone to my first NUT appointment and I've spent $535. We have a high deductable too and my surgery isn't until late January/early February and everything resets January 1st, so everything spent now won't count towards the deductable. I have to get the sleep Study done by the end of my 90 days (12/21/15) but everything else can wait until closer to my surgery date.

I worry about everyone involved in the surgery being covered. My husband broke his arm 11 years ago and needed surgery. The surgeon and hospital were in network but the anesthesiologist wasn't so it cost $2,000.

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Have you met your deductible? I had to pay out of pocket for the psych portion as well. That was $430. I am submitting it to my FSA. The cost of medical care in general in this country is out of control.

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It is out of control. I don't want to get started on all of that because I will get angry! lol!

I was able to pull up my booklet and it says that I have to pay 15% of the cost plus the deductible until it is met, and then just the 15%. My deductible is not yet met, so I'm now really confused where the charge for $235 comes from. I wonder why I wasn't charged the full amount? I don't understand a lot of this stuff and I think that's what they often count on. I'm going to give them a call now and see what's up!

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Insurance companies make deals with healthcare systems. So they agree to pay so much for a service and no more. It is likely that your insurance co has an agreement with your health care organization and you received a discount based on their agreement. This is a possibility.

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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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      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
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    • KimBaxleyWilson

      Three months and four days ago... I was in Costa Rica having a life changing surgery! Yesterday we had a followup visit with Dr. Esmeral via video chat and this morning my middle number changed.  I'm down 47lbs and two pants sizes. I can wear a Large tshirt for the first time in like... 14 years! Woot!! Everything is going great. I have zero regrets. I went down to the riverwalk with a friend and walked 2 miles on Monday without even getting fatigued. And no more snoring or chugging pickle juice for crazy leg cramps! I need to go to the gym more... I'm making new shirts next week so that will motivate me. LOL But I'm also just not as TIRED all the time! I have a LONG way to go...but seeing the progress on the scales and in the mirror is a huge motivator!! Thank you all for cheering me on and supporting me!!
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      https://alluniqueguide.com/java-burn-coffee-reviews/
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