After Surgery, Do Patients Have Out-of-Pocket Costs for Follow-Up Visits?

Assuming a patient has insurance, the answer is generally no for a certain period of time... For a period of time after surgery, insurance specifies that a surgeon provides any and all routine  post-operative care for "free" without any patient out-of-pocket charges. This period after surgery is called "global period" and is based on the assumption that the insurance has already paid for not only the surgery, but all the post-operative care that goes along with the sur…

9/26/2012 0

Continue Reading

Financial Issues with Emergency Room Specialist Care

Imagine this scenario... A young child is playing in the yard when her pet dog bites her face. Bleeding, the child is rushed to the emergency room and the emergency room doctor offers to suture up the child's face. The next question a parent will probably ask (or demand) is the desire for a plastic surgeon to suture the face instead of the emergency room doctor. As such, the plastic surgeon is called in and sutures up the face beautifully. The child and family goes home and that'…

8/19/2012 0

Continue Reading

Waking Up to NOT Just Major Colonoscopy Bills...

The New York Times published an article on May 28, 2012 regarding the high anesthesia charges associated with colonoscopy. What people need to realize is that anesthesia charges apply not just to colonoscopy, but ANY procedure that requires general anesthesia... tonsillectomy , appendectomy, gallbladder surgery, ear tube placement in kids, etc. With any procedure requiring general anesthesia, a patient is going to receive THREE bills... not just one which is what most reasonable peopl…

5/30/2012 0

Continue Reading

Want to See a Specialist Doctor Who Does Not Take Your Insurance? There Are Options...

It is not unusual nowadays that a patient may want to see a specific medical specialist who unfortunately does NOT participate with their  health insurance plan . This doctor is what is known in insurance parlance as a "non-par provider." In this situation, there are two options. 1) The patient pays the medical bill (self-pay) and forwards the receipt to the insurance company who hopefully will reimburse the patient. 2) The patient can request a "Letter of Medical Necessi…

11/05/2011 1

Continue Reading