Re: [MOL] Insurance Companies [12451] Medicine On Line

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Re: [MOL] Insurance Companies

Gosh Cathy, I thought clinical trials were free and then I read someplace where different hospitals provide more for the patients than other hospitals.  Have you talked to NCI @ 1-800-4-cancer, I believe they can give you the most information.  I am attatching my welcome letter as it has information on insurance; etc. they may be of help to you.  I feel the more HMO's we have the more we are going to see these types of problems.  Your friend, Lillian American Association of Health Plans
Membership Department
129 20th Street NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
(202)778-3200
Web site: http://www.aahp.org/
Insurance industry trade association that will provide information on insurance and health care issues.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association
675 North St. Claire Street
Chicago, IL 60601
(312)440-6000

Department of Health and Human Services
Inspector General Hotline
Office of the Inspector General
P.O. Box 23489
Washington, DC 20026
(800)368-5779
U.S. government hotline for complaints regarding Medicare or Medicaid; provides assistance with issues of entitlements, benefits, insurance, and community resources.

Disabled American Veterans
807 Main Avenue SW
Washington, DC 20024
(202)554-3501
(202)554-3581 FAX
Web site: http://www.dav.org/
Provides assistance with health benefits for U.S. veterans.

Hill-Burton Free Hospital Care
5600 Fishers Lane, Room 7-47
Rockville, MD 20857
(800)683-0742 Hotline
(301)594-5999 FAX
Web site: http://www.hrsa.dhhs.gov/bhrd/dfcr/dfcrmain.htm
U.S. government program that can arrange for cost-assisted care for disadvantaged individuals at certain medical facilities or hospitals.

National Insurance Consumer Hotline
1001 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20004
(800)942-4242
Provides assistance in finding insurance coverage, information on insurance issues and a consumer complaint service.

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212 West Van Buren Street, 4th Floor
Chicago, IL 60607
(800)221-2141
(312)294-8598 FAX
Web site: http://www.y-me.org/
Provides donated wigs free of charge.
 
 
 

Telesco,Cathy wrote:

Nanc:
I, too, thought that clinical trials were supposed to be free.  However, the
Dr at Memorial Sloan Kettering said that my Dad's insurance won't pay for
it.  The meds are ok because they will be administered to him here at our
local hospital and not in NYC.  Could it be because it is an HMO?  I will
have to do some more investigating.  Even my Dad's primary care physician
called my Mom on the day before his appointment to let them know that only
the 2nd opinion consultation is covered but that any care he gets at
Memorial will not be...Does this sound wierd?  The other thing that I
questioned was that here we were, at a state of the art cancer center, and
when I asked the doctor about alternative treaments to be used in conjuction
with conventional treatment, he dismissed it as "hogwash".  I would think
Memorial would be a little more open-minded - I was somewhat dissapointed.
Sorry to ramble...
Cathy

> -----Original Message-----
> From: NLPOST@aol.com [SMTP:NLPOST@aol.com]
> Sent: Monday, July 20, 1998 3:28 PM
> To:   mol-cancer@lists.meds.com
> Subject:      Re: [MOL] Insurance Companies
>
> Hi Cathy,
> What won't your Insurance company pay for?  If it is a clinical, I thought
> they were supposed to be free, and if the Meds the Dr. wants to give him
> first
> is FDA approved, your insurance has to pay for them.  Maybe the Insurance
> company misunderstood just what you wanted covered.  Let me know what you
> find
> out about all of it.
> Love and prayers to you and yours,
> Nanc
>
>
> In a message dated 7/20/98 3:20:27 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> cathy.telesco@gartner.com writes:
>
> << Can any molers out there comment on how they dealt (or are dealing)
> with
>  their insurance company's refusal to pay for treatment at another
>  hospital?  I took my Dad to Memorial Sloan Kettering on Friday morning.
>  There is a clinical trial that he can participate in - but the doctor
>  wants to try 5FU with Mitomicin first (for two months).  Failing that,
>  my father is eligible to participate in a clinical trial that is being
>  conducted at Memorial.  However, his HMO, Kaiser Permanente, says they
>  will not cover this! What do you do?  Do you just rack up medical
>  charges and incur an unbelivable amount of debt?  There just has to be a
>  better way.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated...Cathy >>
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