My middle daughter, mildly mentally challenged, has been living in VT near her older sister for 6 years. All of a sudden, she wanted to come home RIGHT NOW. She didn't feel safe in the house she was placed and her sister has health issues in her home. So I flew her home. (the airlines lost her luggage but that is another story ; ) When she came, she told me she needed a blood draw every three months for platelet counts after lymphoma of the spleen for a while. Talked back and forth with her case worker. I called the clinic I used to use when I used doctors and asked if they could set up an appointment. First they said they were too busy but then the following Thursday at 9:15 was available. We arrived for our appointment but the receptionist said they didn't take out of network insurance. How much is it out of pocket? She didn't know. There are two main Health businesses that own all the clinics in the area and they are all the same that way. I did a bit of searching and found an independent lab. It had an outlet 25 minutes from here. I called. Explained the situation and could they handle it. Sure. Could I make an appointment? No. You just walk in. ??? Had to have a lab order from her doctor brought with or faxed in. I can do that. So, was I coming in right now? Uhmmmmm, no. Hadn't expected such service. But I would arrange for the lab order to be sent and come tomorrow. IF you find you can't take her insurance, how much is the blood panel out of pocket? A little paper shuffling, and uhmmmms and she said they charge half off for out of pocket. $19!!!!!! I am going to try to bring her flowers. The clinic/hospital labs charge upwards of $400! Why is the world so nuts if it can be this simple? grrrrrrrrrr... I found an MRI's are US near by there too before I got my hip replacement.
I hope you don't get an unpleasant surprise when you get there, Mary. $19 sounds impossible for blood work nowadays. Good luck and I hope your daughter does OK.
Some doctors or facilities will accept what your insurance company will pay even when it's out of network. If they're paid $25 in-network but they're only going to be paid $19 out-of-network, they may decide to "eat" the difference as a courtesy or as an incentive for you to use them in the future. I have, on occasion, had a shot or a procedure that Medicare won't cover. My previous doctor's office, since I was a long-time patient, would only charge me what Medicare WOULD have paid them, not what they would have charged someone with no insurance. But, as Beth suggests, it would be a good idea to establish that before-hand. Some medical billing surprises are very, very bad surprises.
Welllll, out of state medicaid didn't phase the receptionist. She said they were nationwide. Maybe it is like a 'free' clinic. If they come after my daughter they might not get very much. And with all the governmental red tape, might be fun to watch. I was more concerned with the needle wielder. Some are better than others.
The thing that some don't realize is that insurance makes these providers discount their services with medicare being the worse. If a service isn't covered by medicare and cash up front is required, I asked them what other insurance they accept will pay them. I asked to see their schedule. By law, they have to show a patient that info. That is what I will pay and no more. If they give me flack, I put my cash offer in writing stating it is the same as they collect off other insurance. If they refuse then I tell them to take me to collections. If they know their job they know no collections will buy this debt and if they try to sneak it in a package deal to the collections, they can face some costly legal problems since I offered to pay what insurance does and refused to be gouged to make up for their losses. The problem I have had with discount blood work clinics is, these places only do basic blood work and not all the special tests that are more important to me.
All done. The office was handled by one woman who did the blood draw as well as answer the phone. Not totally pain free but daughter said she has had worse. They took her VT medicaid. Will find out later if doctor is happy with the counts. They send by fax now not pony express. The lab work is just the basics. I think they do covid tests somewhere in the building.
That's good news. It's been a long time since I've had a bad phlebotomist. You can create an account on the Lab Corp website and download that report so you can have a copy as soon as it's done.
Rush Limbaugh told a story that, since he had many millions, he never had health insurance (I guess until he passed 65 and got Medicare). He became sick in Hawaii and tried to pay his hospital bill in cash. The hospital involved had no mechanism for that to be done. It took months and months and lawyers to enable him to actually pay his hospital bill himself without going through a third party.
I had an accident in Vermont and went to an emergency clinic. Sat around for a while. After x-rays was told nothing was wrong. I wanted to look at the xrays but was denied. They took my insurance info but later sent me a bill because they lost it. I re-sent the info--not the money. Insurance is a game--if you lose, you win.
Will your daughter be staying with you now, Mary? I'm glad the blood work got done without too much hassle.
She has lived near her sister in Vermont for the last 6 years and has come a long way. Montpelier is a very small town. for a capital city, and she walked everywhere--to get groceries, do volunteer work, go to diners, the library...She learned to take public transportation to the next town and found a boyfriend at her work. She is talking quite well, now. Here, I have to take her everywhere she might want to go. Recently, her housemother evicted daughter's boyfriend after a fight with bi-polar son and Donna called to have me send her a plane ticket as she did not feel safe there anymore. They had been looking to relocate for 6 months but could find no affordable rentals. Boyfriend stayed behind so as not to lose his job and to keep looking. He is sleeping in his car, which he has done before. I found a place here and suggested he transfer. But he is high functioning autistic and both want to live in VT. She will stay with me until... Story is longer but....
I'm sorry they are having a tough time of it and I hope everything works out. It must be stressful for you since we worry about our children in the best of times. Sending a big hug to you Mary. As an aside, I have often wondered if I might be on "the spectrum" and high-functioning. (Not joking; I have a lack of emotion about some things that makes me wonder why I am the way I am.)
I have a SIL who is an Asperger's person. He is quite intelligent and is a bit OCD, but doesn't interact socially very well. He has two degrees--one in mechanical engineering and one in computer science. He is also a certified welder and an amateur radio extra class.