ldyinlv

Well, everyone...
I have my Cat scan on Monday...so guess what I found out today.??? My health insurance is cancelled as of today!!! So in order to get it still, I have to come up with 40% of the cost for the scan, which is $360.00 and make payments on the rest of the balance....(shhhh dont tell) anyway, can you believe my luck..lol....just get me home!!!

islandwoman120

For heavens sakes! Can you leave it until you get here? Or do you have to have a clean bill of health to travel? I do forget - I know you wrote about this at length, but that was a long time ago on this thread and it is lost in time now. Stick it on a credit card, if you still have one. A US $ Credit card.....

ldyinlv

I have to have one, and dont feel right heading to the UK and needing an expensive scan right away, and I was hoping to go home with some peace of mind, hoping its all clear. On top of that, I wanted to get my medical records to take with me, which at this point are quite extensive. They want 66 cents a page for them..OMG..who knows how many pages it is.....like I said...I just want to get home..

islandwoman120

You should not have to pay for your medical records if they are intended for another doctor. You get charged if you want them for your own use. I asked my various doctors and doctor's clinics for mine, and I got them with no charge because I told them I was going to England and needed them for my new doctor. And your CAT scan films will be sent directly to your new doctor over here - not sure if the actual film is sent or an electronic version. Just make sure you have details of all the various doctors, medical centers, hospitals etc. And you only need to bring the text versions of your notes. I just handed mine in to my new doctor last week. And I got my prescriptions renewed for when the current ones I have are finished - I had about 6 months supply with me, and I am using those up first. You should ask for your notes again, using the new request 'for my doctor in England'. If they still give you grief, your English doctor can ask for them from here, but that will take time.

Beedubya

Jackie, this is just bl**dy scandalous!! Yes get home as quickly as you can, who needs the stress.

Mummy in the foothills

Get the forms from them giving permission to have the records sent to the new doctor in UK, then have the UK doctor sign the papers and you mail them back to US and let them mail them over. Or you could let them know it'll cost them a lot more to send the forms when the doctor requests them from the UK can you give me a break on the price?
So sorry your insurance has been canceled it doesn't seem legal really does it, in the middle of treatment. Have you asked the hospital for a break on the cost seeing you will have to self pay and are now unemployed and sick?

ldyinlv

I just needed this last cat scan before I leave..my luck, it couldnt last 4 more days...I am going to see if a UK Doctor can have them faxed to him or something, after all this is the tech age, then maybe I wont get charged..

cheers

This is America and there are people lining up in the UK to move here

ldyinlv

Well, I have warned as many as I could about insurance...they just have to find out for themselves, noone wants to believe it until it happens to them..

islandwoman120

One more thing about the CAT scan - can you ask if the hospital has a endowment that covers low income patients. Most of them do - they just don't advertise the fact. You should be able to get this charge covered under that, or the price reduced a great deal. You can ask at the Medical Billing department. I have used that scheme in the USA.

ldyinlv

Thanks Island, thats a big help..I will certainly let them know these are for a Doctor and not myself..

cheers

I think some of you are missing the point (I'm so smart) If she tells them she is going to leave the country there is no way they are going to allow her a payment plan.
I agree what was mentioned that she should ask for a compassionate rate since she has no insurance. I think it is done all the time and people get their bill marked down considerably.

If it were me I would wait until I got to the UK.
It is scandalous after all she is gone through. There is no mercy sorry to say.

Cheers

islandwoman120

Well, I hear you, but there is a chance if she is not so open about leaving the states when she asks the Billing department for a cut rate, that Medical Records will not know. Under normal circumstances we don't have to act in this way, looking over our shoulder all the time, but in the states it is every one for himself and you learn to be proactive. Then you get to the UK, and you have to learn to relax - it is SO low key here compared to the USA, so low key. Like everyone is asleep at the wheel. When I went to the doctor last week, there were no Credit Card signs, no muzac, and no fancy trimmings. I did feel like something was missing...no dramas! Kids playing in the toy box in a corner, people sitting on benches talking to each other, smiles and laughter. I am still adapting, waiting for the other shoe to drop and it isn't.

ldyinlv

You are smart BEE.. if I told them I was leaving the cat scan would cost me 1100 dollars in full..ridiculous. Although I have always payed my bills, and always tried to do things in a honorable manner, in this case I am just paying the 40%..fortunatley the Radiology Center, and my Doctor are 2 different entities so although my Doctor knows I am leaving, the radiology place doesnt.

sallysimmons

ldyinlv, why was your insurance cancelled? Weren't you offered COBRA?

I live in fear of being thrown off my plan as I am self-employed and have no protection. In 2014, the new healthcare law protects me, but that's still 3 years away and I wouldn't put it past the insurance company to purge costly people prior to that deadline. I have had a lot of tests recently and it just scares me.