3 ms·

I imagine at some point UCLA or Cedar Sinai will just stop offering me services? I need to see nutrition but it isn’t covered by medicare so it is $600 for an a

I imagine at some point UCLA or Cedar Sinai will just stop offering me services? I need to see nutrition but it isn’t covered by medicare so it is $600 for an appointment but it is integral to my actual condition so it seems like I am being screwed over. I cannot pay that and also eat, which sorta defeats the purpose of staying alive. I cannot do food banks because I have a mast cell disorder and what I can actually safely eat is complicated. I don’t have a clue how to navigate this.

atdrummond 3y ago
I have an ER bill of $100k+ owed to Stanford for the better part of a decade (amongst an huge number of other more recent bills) and they still see me for regular booked appointments and ERs. It works less well for specialist offices owned by doctors themselves but I’ve found the large hospitals are disinclined to outright deny service, for a multitude of reasons. Re: nutrition, is there a clinic outside your normal network that might offer that? You may have to wait longer but I’ve been able to see no-cost specialists in St Louis, Chicago and the Bay Area through various neighborhood clinics. I’m always happy to help too - feel free to drop me an email and I can connect you to some resources in your area. Most importantly, best of luck with all of this.
- Madmallard 3y ago
  I appreciate that. The nutritionist I saw is highly recommended because she has dealt with patients like me before. Is there some kind of bill deferring thing I could do in this situation?
  - atdrummond 3y ago
    Have you talked to her finance team? Is she part of the major hospital networks you already visit? If that $600 isn’t your copay but instead the whole cost out-of-network, there is almost certainly a way to get that put on a 12 month payment plan or something similar.

3 ms·

I imagine at some point UCLA or Cedar Sinai will just stop offering me services? I need to see nutrition but it isn’t covered by medicare so it is $600 for an a

by Madmallard 3y ago

atdrummond 3y ago
I have an ER bill of $100k+ owed to Stanford for the better part of a decade (amongst an huge number of other more recent bills) and they still see me for regular booked appointments and ERs. It works less well for specialist offices owned by doctors themselves but I’ve found the large hospitals are disinclined to outright deny service, for a multitude of reasons. Re: nutrition, is there a clinic outside your normal network that might offer that? You may have to wait longer but I’ve been able to see no-cost specialists in St Louis, Chicago and the Bay Area through various neighborhood clinics. I’m always happy to help too - feel free to drop me an email and I can connect you to some resources in your area. Most importantly, best of luck with all of this.
- Madmallard 3y ago
  I appreciate that. The nutritionist I saw is highly recommended because she has dealt with patients like me before. Is there some kind of bill deferring thing I could do in this situation?
  - atdrummond 3y ago
    Have you talked to her finance team? Is she part of the major hospital networks you already visit? If that $600 isn’t your copay but instead the whole cost out-of-network, there is almost certainly a way to get that put on a 12 month payment plan or something similar.