STEAM ROOM FOR ANGER
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So I'm very upset with my MO's office. For the past three years I I've been getting a zoladex shot. I just found out they have been under billing me for the last three years. It's now triple the cost! They now are trying to come after me for the money. Well, it's thousands of dollars that I certainly don't have. I can't believe this. I do have a legal back ground and I do know that when you pay a bill in full and receive a receipt that says paid in full that is it. They can't come back and ask for more. I'm currently working my way up the management chain talking to different people and being blown off. They can go to collections with this, they aren't getting the money. You can't get blood from a stone. This was their mistake, and they will have yo eat the extra cost.
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MeToo14:That is so annoying and bare faced cheeky of them!! I would say morally they should have no justification be able to bill you backdated. But like you I m not legal or even medical admin person. So cross for you. Im sure there's someone who can be of
more practical. Grrrr.
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Today I made the mistake of looking at my billing statement for treatment in the month of October. I don't usually go to my hospital's online account for me since I have insurance and deal with everything there. I got curious after my insurance denied a new drug we are adding to treatment. The new drug cost estimate is 28k per month. I'm very lucky and thankful to have gotten approved for a financial assistance program my doctors found for me and this new drug will be covered. Normally this would having me gasping, ranging and raving at the scandal of our health system. That is until I looked at the cost of 2 infusions. Just the infusions, no scans or anything else which I have to have every 4-8 weeks for my brain and chest.
$90,000
This is criminal! I just want to be alive. I didn't do this to myself. How do insurance companies not go bankrupt!? At this rate I'll hit my max coverage in no time. How is this ok? It makes me mad to tears to think what happens without insurance or when you are maxed out. Why is the cost so high? How do we get this regulated or something? You are literally killing people with cost. Is this normal in the US? Ugh I don’t even know what to do with my mad sad disgust and just...myriad of emotions
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I'm a few days out from surgery. I met with a pre surgical team to discuss some concerns I had and some accommodations I would need.
The pre surgical people said they X, Y, Z and they would take care of it but they didn't. As a result they did not do two things I was told they would do during surgery, I was sent home a day earlier than I was told, and without home health care.
I have a problem with one of the drains but can't reach to strip it/fix it myself and when talking with the on call surgeon about that, he told me home health care would have had to have been set up while I was in the hospital and I can't get it now.
Well it was supposed to be set up from the beginning!
Now I'm sitting her with an exposed, leaking drain site incision on the cancer side, probably leaking tumor cells all over myself because we know some linger after treatment and you just have to be lucky enough that they stay dormant or your immune system gets them.
I'm considering going elsewhere to finish the reconstruction because if this surgery were the DIEP then I would be in bed unable to move and by myself right now. Not to be a drama queen but I would literally be stuck.
What, exactly, does the pre surgical team do except bill me, I wonder?
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wc. If your drain is leaking you need to be seen. Call your pcp if bs or ps aren't helping.
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Rosabella:
They took the drains out. I still need to get in touch with the pre surgical team to find out what happened to the home health care though.
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So....I was able to renew my DRIVER's LICENSE this afternoon, but it WON'T have the required "REAL ID" stamp on it because (drum roll please) I didn't have my marriage certificate/license with me. I believe this new ID thing is something that Trump set up....figures.
I had EVERYTHING ELSE...My birth certificate with the real embossed seal for copy certification from the Hall of Records (they won't take photocopies - it has to be authenticated with the embossed stamp/seal), my ORIGINAL SS Card (with my hyphenated name on it), and TWO bills to prove residency. That's what the paperwork told me to bring - nothing else.
I looked everywhere on the paperwork they sent me about what to bring, searching for MARRIAGE LICENSE - but it was no where to be found on said paperwork. The Dept. of Motor Vehicles (DMV) clerk said I had to have the marriage licence to PROVE I was married to Mr. X, and that's why my name is hyphenated. Gees Louise! Come on! The bills have my hyphenated name, the SS Card has my hyphenated name, my current license has my hyphenated name on it, and the way I see it, the marriage license only has my MAIDEN name on it! Plus, my DH was standing beside me the whole time in front of the clerk, and I was wearing my wedding ring...
Apparently, that wasn't enough. Well, we have until the end of 2020 to get all this re-done for the Federal ID/License, and I seriously doubt that I will be here in two years, given how my bone mets are getting bigger, my vision is worse from the brain mets, etc. ((Oh, happy day - my vision hasn't deteriorated to the point where I failed the vision test - I passed it - PHEW!))
So I'm writing this to all you MARRIED ladies who will have to get your ID/License renewed. I should have listened to my friend in Georgia who went thru this...she said be sure to bring your marriage cert/lic. I did NOT listen to her because it didn't say to bring that document on any of the DMV paperwork. So, ladies, you'll need to bring it along w/all the other stuff. You need the FEDERAL ID if you want to fly. I'm not supposed to fly with my brain mets, so I didn't make a big deal out of it, but it still IRKS me. They need to PUT THIS on the list when they mail you the paperwork for criminy sakes.
So that's my rant for this afternoon...sigh.
L
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Lita57, that's just nuts. But typical. Some years back, right after we moved, I went to get a library card. Because I don't drive, they said I didn't have sufficient ID, and they'd have taken a voter ID card but I hadn't gotten the new one yet. I had several other types of ID with me. As I was turning to leave, the clerk asked if I'd like to take care of the voter card. HUH? He said I could get that card, then use it as ID to get the library card. I just glared at him and asked if he ever listened to the dumb shit falling out of his mouth.
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Haha not Trump for that one, Real ID was passed in 2005 (9/11 Commission) and was supposed to be effective in 2008, but California is one of the few states that kept dragging their feet and asking for extensions, year after year after year after year. Now they're told no more extensions, get it done, and everyone is scrambling in a panic. They've only had 13 years to prepare for it...meanwhile it's old news to the rest of the country.
If you're divorced and changed names, you need to bring divorce decree too.
I had to do an in person renewal last year and was mad that California wasn't ready for Real ID at that time. Personally I think it will be easier to just renew my passport (or apply for one if you don't already have) than deal with the lines at a California DMV office if I'm going to fly. It took me hours to renew my license last time even before Real ID and I don't have the stamina for that these days.
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My license is up for renewal. To get the RealID I have to go in to the office...and if I go in to the office, I have to take a vision test and have a new photo taken. That is exactly what I want. A driver's license with a commemorative photo of me post chemo with hair that looks like I survived a nuclear bomb and then was licked by a cow.
But I actually came here to complain about the fact that they keep pushing me to make an appointment, but when I try to, the system tells me they have none for my location, so I can expect to spend about 2 hours there.
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WC3 that made me laugh so hard (in understanding)! I'm glad I renewed my license right before my DX or I'd be the one arguing with someone for the right to keep my headscarf on for my photo.
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HIPPA
Great in theory: our health information is protected.
Lousy in application.
I can pick up all our prescriptions at our pharmacy, for all members of my family, including my children who are over 18. No big deal, just give month and day of birth (a stranger could easily find on Facebook). I can look in the bag, and see who is taking what medication, and read all the information on the patient counseling sheets (this medication is to treat high cholesterol or depression or whatever). I could toss those same medications out the window.
However, every year when I prepare our taxes, when I ask for a list of all the medications my family took for the entire year, and how much they all cost (to double check my records), I have to write a letter to the pharmacist and have all family members over 18 sign that letter. Even though I already bought all those medications myself.
Worse, when the copays for hospital stays arrive, at the tune of $1,366, and I want to call someone to make a payment plan, I have to get the permission of my over 18 children to speak with the financial department to set up payment. This is to pay the bill, not to discuss diagnosis or treatment. I said to the financial people, I'm trying to pay this bill. Do you really think an 18 year high school or college student is going to pay this bill? They replied. We still need their permission first.
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I agree HIPPA can be a joke. I don’t like when I’m in the waiting room and a nurse or MA comes out and shouts my full name. Also there is no provacy at the check-in desk. And at the end of visit, clerical people print my Summary showing all kinds of information on it.
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Privacy is a joke. In infusion centers you read your full name and DOB while talking about your bowel movements to the nurse with just a curtain to separate you! Even then, many times they don’t close the curtains and use your little square space as a thoroughfare to the other curtain cubbies.
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My my driver's license was up for renewal. I had to go in person of course. I got it done wearing a surgical mask praying I wouldn't get sick in that sardine can room not long after bilat mxs.
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The worst thing doctors offices do imo, is ask what you’re being seen for when making an appointment. Not your business, schedule lady, not your business.
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I agree with each and everyone of you. They certainly do announce your name and information for sure. There is no privacy. Is actually insulting to call it a private act at all. Good points made ladies each and everyone of you
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When my mother was in a nursing home I had to discuss her social security info with the SS office. They insisted on talking to her to get her permission to talk to me (I was her POA.) I had to take time off from work to visit her at the home during the week so we could talk to the SS rep. I could have had any little old lady in the place claim to be her and they wouldn't have known the difference. What a crock.
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The stricter standards for issuing drivers' licenses is related to the "REAL ID Act" of 2013. It's related to Homeland Security because some state licensing agencies had very limited ID verification requirements and fake versions of their cards could be easily reproduced. Unfortunately, the current requirements sometimes border on the ridiculous. Not unlike Lita's situation, my 85 year old mother's birth certificate had a minor typographical error in it. It mattered not that she'd filed tax returns, voted and been issued a driver's license with the correct version of her name for many decades. She, too, had to produce her marriage license from the 1950s to show the transition from her maiden name. It's one of those situations where the intent is for the safety of all, but the execution for older folks with decades of paper trials gets ridiculous. If you have a paper trail that starts in the 1930s, it's pretty unlike that you're secretly a foreign agent hell bent on the destruction of the USA.
Asking the purpose of a medical appointment at the scheduling desk seems intrusive, but there is a logical reason. Doctors allocate a certain amount of time depending on whether a patient is, say, having a routine follow-up appointment related to mild hypertension versus, say, a new patient appointment. I agree, though, that privacy often goes by the wayside in the medical world. I was glancing through one doctor's HIPPA form and saw that it included releasing my information to fundraising organizations. I don't mean to be a curmudgeon, but NO! I handed in the form with that section marked through and initialed. To add a little levity to the privacy discussion, I once dashed into a convenience store to tinkle. I wasn't quiet about sneaking into a stall, but was shocked when a woman in the stall next to me ordered pizza delivery and loudly announced her name, address, phone number, credit card number and related security code! DOH! The gross-out factor of having your phone in your hand while you're excreting in a public restroom aside, I faced the dilemma of whether to flush while she was still on the line. Yup, I did!
Lyn
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I'm frustrated and angry. The third week of October ,after my last PET, my MO let me know that my last treatments weren't keeping me stable and he thought that a clinical trial was the way to go. We've always had a good relationship, good communication, and I always felt that my well-being was primary. He conferred with the Clinical Studies dept. and had input into which trial he thought might put the brakes on my progression the fastest. So, I met with the CO, who I liked very much. He explained the study, I was comfortable with it, and got scheduled to start screening tests around 11/10. I felt that I wasn't going to be a lab rat. The next follow-up prior to that, the CO had an emergency, so I met with other members of the trial team, who told me I was being considered for a different study - one involving immunotherapy - which now had an opening for a patient. It was all overwhelming, but signed the consent after there enthusiastic presentation. Since then, it's been nothing but delays in screening tests, then there was a problem with the sponsor and the timeline in which my biopsy was done, and I've now been without treatment (even ineffective treatment...) for TWO MONTHS with aggressive liver mets!
I FINALLY have the rest of the screening tests tomorrow and will find out Monday whether I will be in this trial or not. I'm frustrated and angry and scared and trying to figure out how NOT to unload on my new clinical studies onc...I don't want to get off on a bad foot, since this dept. may be my last train to Clarksville. He did say that he would make sure my former MO was comfortable with the change. I went from being a stage 4 patient who managed to stay very zen because I felt cared for, and now I feel like I've been left twisting in the wind due to bureaucratic issues. My hubby kept telling me to contact my former MO, but there's nothing he can do. I want to be diplomatic, but I don't want to be taken for granted, either, just so they can get another trial patient.
I just don't know if this is SOP for clinical trials...I started a thread and got a couple of responses, but that was it. I have a good old friend who's been in trials for the past 2 years, and she would have been my perfect go-to, but she is quietly winding down her life in hospice, G-d love her.
Thanks for letting me rant.
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I want to give people an update on my financial assistance saga. After talking to my MO's money person and Pfizer directly, they both advised me to drop the Advocate My Meds people and apply directly through Pfizer. A very specific letter had to be mailed to Advocate My Meds to de-enroll. I'm hoping they play nice and don't charge my credit card again. I sent that letter registered mail so I'll have proof that I sent it. I also faxed the application documents to Pfizer using Federal Express. (My fax machine is broken. Faxing things is really outdated now and I had already attached pdf files to an email to Advocate My Meds. No one else uses that method and I appreciated that about Advocate My Meds.) While I was writing this, Advocate My Meds called to let me know that they had sent all of my documents to Pfizer. Great. Now Pfizer has two sets of my documents. I guess I still need to straighten that out. The Advocate My Meds people were very nice about cancelling my enrollment and said that my credit card would not be charged again. I don't think it is a bad organization. If a person found the application process to Pfizer daunting, they would be a viable choice to get competent help. I always had friendly and helpful people on the phone. I decided that I didn't want to pay $49.95 a month when, after approval of my application, they wouldn't really be doing anything. With so much money floating around in healthcare, these niche industries are bound to pop up.
If you want to apply directly to Pfizer, the phone numbers listed on their website are confusing. They have a program that offers a variety of kinds of support. That number is 844-9IBRANCE (I know, too many digits but if you don't dial the last digit, you don't get through.) The number that gets you to the financial assistance people is 877-744-5675. You have to lie to the first menu and say, yes, you are enrolled. The person at Pfizer told me to do that. And when faxing documents to Pfizer, you have to do it from a phone with auto-dial or you will never get through. The person at Fed Ex told me that.
I wrote the above description yesterday morning, Dec. 5. Update to update: yesterday afternoon, I drove to MO's office to give them more things to fax to Pfizer. I may be done … or not.
Kattysmith, it may be time to be a little less diplomatic.
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Capecodgirl - If I were you I would send the message privately. He needs to know that one can't “prevent" breast or any other cancer. Otherwise he'll keep spreading misinformation which only makes the uninformed patient feel guilty as though he or she could have prevented cancer. I really resent it when people voice this kind of nonsense. There are a lot of other things people say which piss me off but I won't go into those.
Send the message - for yourself as well as for others. If you have a link to an article about how cancer is not preventable through diet or exercise send that too!
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PatsyKB,
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Rant that people think you "need a break" from work and cut your hours and/or lay you off after you have been a faithful employee when things slow down a little bit. They can claim it is for financial reasons they are cutting staff and do cut others without cancer but you are singled out who really needs the insurance and just can't help but wonder when the comment is made that "at least you can take a break" and rest up for a bit. Really???? What about the bills when you are the sole breadwinner in your household and it is Christmas?????
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Ugh! Need to do a little ranting here. Went to my MO appointment, have not seen her in three months and when I check in they say I’m seeing the nurse practitioner. I was not too happy about this because I had things to discuss with the MO that the nurse practitioner can’t make decisions on and it has been three months. Also they changed it a long time ago and no one bothered to tell me! Very upsetting! They said I could wait to see MO but I chose not to. I’m really not impressed with this treatment center, it seems adequate at best. Now I’m scheduled to see the MO in February, so it will be five months between appointments. I wish I lived closer to another cancer center.
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bcincolorado I'm so sorry to hear that, bad enough at any time but it's even harder when they do it during the holidays. Wish there was something I could say that would make it better.
KatyK any chance your MO would consult by phone? Mine has been great about phone calls between appointments when needed if it's something my nurses can't handle, even though I see him at least every 3 weeks.
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KatyK, I can’t believe you are Stage IV and you get passed down to a nurse practitioner. That is not right
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Nurse Practioners are great, but I want to see my Physcian only. I don’t want to see someone who doesn’t know my history and treatments. I don’t want to have to repeat my history eveytimenas staff changes. After the first time I was shuffled to the PA who only listened to my cancerous lungs from the front only......not right! So I make it clear when making appointments who I will see. My family doc is really a PA with whom I’ve had a long standing relationship that I adore. She knows me, My history, my family etc.
I don’t blame you at all for being fussy
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PatsyKB-
I did message him letting him know this info. Based on his facebook live presentation I feel he is in is this for the $, and has zero interest in promoting the truth if it does not benefit him financially. When I explained to him that the bc is not prevented simply by making better lifestyle changes (and per his presentation getting regular chiropractic adjustments), his reply was to thank me for my interest and direct me to an amazon link to buy the book that will explain this all to me. What an asshat.
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snake oil alert.
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