02/23/16:
So I have been going back and forth with MD Anderson and my insurance company on billing.
At the beginning in June of 2015, MD Anderson made sure that I had insurance to cover my visits and costs. They confirmed with Blue Cross & Blue Shield of LA that MD Anderson would be considered as in network since I had a letter of referral from my referring Doctor, Dr. Safah, and also since there was no more conventional care available that would help me any further in the New Orleans area. The intake person at MD Anderson confirmed that I was fully covered as in network.
MD Anderson will not take you if you do not have insurance or can’t put a hefty down payment in place of your insurance. They want this before they will see you!
The first two months go by, no issues, everything is getting covered as in network by MD Anderson.
The third month I start seeing issues on my bills and contact both MD Anderson and BCBSLA about the issues. They reprocess these charges and I am not responsible for any of them.
However in October, all of the reprocessing stops. MD Anderson tells me that I am responsible for all the charges and that all of them are now out of network because that what BCBSLA says. However when I email BCBSLA they tell me that MD Anderson is not getting the preapprovals needed to treat this as in network and therefore I am getting charged for all of this. I talk to MD Anderson’s Business Center, and I am told this happens all the time with BCBSLA and not to worry about it as they will work it out. They also told me that BCBSLA wanted codes that said that I was seeing a doctor out of a hospital setting, while MD Anderson is seeing me in a Hospital setting and MD Anderson is not going to be dishonest and provide the wrong billing codes to say that I am seeing a doctor outside of the hospital setting. She says this happens all the time and they take care of it. So I don’t worry about it and just keep getting treatments and visits.
Here we are 5 months later, and now everything is catching up to me. MD Anderson either didn’t follow through with BCBSLA and just charging me as out of network, or MD Anderson is not processing the right codes. I now have a $2,000 Statement from MD Anderson for doctor visits and treatments back to October.
What the hell?
How can two – three months of treatments get processed as in networks and with corrections then all of a sudden stop all in network coverage and treat everything as out of network?
I was thinking about having my transplant at MD Anderson, but if they can’t get the insurance straightened out then I am in no way going to consider a transplant with MD Anderson. I am not going to go through the same mess again with MD Anderson telling me that I am fully covered as in network, and then when I am done with my transplant have them tell me that I was not covered and that I owe over $2 million for a transplant. F that! Sorry I am done with this back and forth frustration with MD Anderson and the billing department.
They have great care on the doctor level and treatment level, but their billing department just sucks. How can I be told I am covered going into it, and then not covered after it. No signs of them talking to BCBSLA, just oh we processed it and it came back as out of network. I tell them to process it again, and they tell me same thing. I want more than that, I want a detailed message of who they talked to at BCBSLA, their name, number, and the reason that it is being out of network so that I can call them and talk to the same people.
Instead MD Anderson tells me oh you must contact your insurance provider in reference to all of these claims that are being treated as out of network.
I ALREADY HAVE! MD Anderson says its BCBSLA’s fault, and BCBSLA says it’s MD Anderson’s fault. Neither will provide me with more information.,
I am done with MD Anderson once I get done this trial! Once I am ready to do my transplant at Tulane back in New Orleans where I know my whole transplant will be covered, MD Anderson will bother me no more!
Oh if you want to donate, top right of this blog, all donations will go to this bullshit with MD Anderson.
