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What Robyn meant was back in the day those doctors who accepted assignment didn't bother to charge the copay and just settled for the 80% Medicare payment - she didn't mean those doctors no longer accept Medicare today. Today, those same doctors must charge a copay.
Thanks for explaining this even here one Doctor who was to do a colon test asked if my neighbor and I would mind if he did not take a copay. He also gave out the prep stuff no charge. Next time that changed as there was a notice saying they had to take the copay.
many years ago a Dr I had would always tell his nurse not to bill me when I had just got out of high school
and got sick. The Dr here in Fla even did cab service if a person did not let too far if they had no ride to and from the surgery center. He just wanted people to get the test so took one road block away.
what makes you think I"m trying to chisel on co pays? I said early on I pay my copays, it is my friend with very very low income who asks for help.
What's that have to do with where I live? Have you lived here?
Judgements???
You said this (in message #80). About yourself:
When I've asked for reduction in copays, it's been with PT appts and they can be ongoing, my copay could have been $25 per session and when I negotiated down to $10 the PT people accepted. Often they want the business vs no business.
IMO - paying co-pays isn't just about the person paying them. I look at the medical reimbursement system like a balloon. Squeeze it "here" - and something pops up "there". It's called "cost-shifting". It's one of the reasons Medicare and similar are increasingly in trouble these days. Providers used to shift costs from Medicare patients to regular privately insured patients - but private insurance companies are increasingly "pushing back" and refusing to shoulder the burden of cost shifting.
As for Santa Monica - it was a very pricey part of the world last time I looked (last visit was late last year). Most people who can afford to live there can afford a $25 co-pay. OTOH - it does have rent control. So I guess some people can live there relatively inexpensively (although that would leave more money in some peoples' pockets to pay for co-pays and other things). Robyn
Not necessarily if Maggie's situation was the same as mine - a secondary cataract. I originally had cataract surgery in 2009 - both eyes - outpatient at a hospital.
There is a common complication called a "secondary cataract" which forms at the back of the lense capsule months to years after the cataract surgery - i.e., cloudiness - a result of residual cataract cells which grow and multiply again but in another place in the eye...
The procedure to correct this is called a posterior capsulotomy - a simple five-minute laser procedure...
Thanks for this explanation. Guess we will cross that particular bridge if/when we get to it. My husband is having his first eye done later this year. I don't think we'll be paying anything for the procedure itself (Medicare/Medigap will pay for it). But we will be paying a fair amount out of pocket for the (Toric) lens. Which Medicare doesn't cover. On the other hand - my husband's glasses should be a lot cheaper in the future due to the Toric correction (he'll get rid of his near-sightedness and astigmatism - so all he will need is reading glasses). So we'll get the cost of the Toric lens back eventually.
Note that I've never heard of anyone having in-patient cataract surgery here. Even my 90+ year old father had his cataract surgery out-patient. And the procedure my husband is having will be done with a laser. Robyn
When I've asked for reduction in copays, it's been with PT appts and they can be ongoing, my copay could have been $25 per session and when I negotiated down to $10 the PT people accepted. Often they want the business vs no business.
IMO - paying co-pays isn't just about the person paying them. I look at the medical reimbursement system like a balloon. Squeeze it "here" - and something pops up "there". It's called "cost-shifting". It's one of the reasons Medicare and similar are increasingly in trouble these days. Providers used to shift costs from Medicare patients to regular privately insured patients - but private insurance companies are increasingly "pushing back" and refusing to shoulder the burden of cost shifting.
As for Santa Monica - it was a very pricey part of the world last time I looked (last visit was late last year). Most people who can afford to live there can afford a $25 co-pay. OTOH - it does have rent control. So I guess some people can live there relatively inexpensively (although that would leave more money in some peoples' pockets to pay for co-pays and other things). Robyn
So is NYC and other major cities pricey parts of the world. You have no idea about my life here in SM for 50some yrs. And my finances.
Last edited by jaminhealth; 07-23-2016 at 11:49 AM..
Note that I've never heard of anyone having in-patient cataract surgery here. Even my 90+ year old father had his cataract surgery out-patient. And the procedure my husband is having will be done with a laser. Robyn
Mine was outpatient, as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ariadne22
I originally had cataract surgery in 2009 - both eyes - outpatient at a hospital.
- went in early one morning, left a couple of hours later, two separate procedures one month apart. The posterior capsulotomies were also quasi-outpatient at the ambulatory surgical center of the same hospital - more like dr's appt - no bed, anesthesia, etc., just sat in chairs in a waiting area.
So is NYC and other major cities pricey parts of the world. You have no idea about my life here in SM for 50some yrs. And my finances.
No I don't.
OTOH - I do know that the providers you deal with (assuming they are Medicare providers) - if they're willing to do "under the table"/illegal discounts for you and others - often wind up costing everyone else more.
BTW - what kind of providers are you talking about? You have alluded to (although not exactly stated in so many words) a belief in "alternative medicine". Are these PT providers chiropractors or similar? Robyn
Mine was outpatient, as well. - went in early one morning, left a couple of hours later, two separate procedures one month apart. The posterior capsulotomies were also quasi-outpatient at the ambulatory surgical center of the same hospital - more like dr's appt - no bed, anesthesia, etc., just sat in chairs in a waiting area.
My husband's surgeon recommends 3 months apart - and that's what we'll do. My husband has a complicating factor because he has had optic neuritis (in the distant past - as a result of his MS). We are given to understand it might cause problems. But there has been so little work/studies done in the area that it is hard to come up with any definite ideas of the possible risks. We trust the surgeon (he has been honest with us about the lack of knowledge/studies when it comes to this) and will play it by ear. Robyn
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