FYI: CANCER TREATMENT CENTER O F AMERICA-PHILADELPHIA

Yazmin

Hi, althea. You wrote: "It bamboozles me to this day that so many aspects of my 'care' involved unnecessary stress". You know, it constantly bamboozles me that the out-of-control cost of healthcare is such a source of unacceptable stress for most patients.....

pip57

As a Canadian I am keeping my lips sealed with regards to your stressful experiences re costs of care.  You know how most of us feel about that!  (I am winking and smirking a bit, since I don't know how to post those cute little faces)

It is so true that the people providing care can make the difference between someone having a good or bad experience in a facility.  It can change from one shift to another.  And we all have different expectations and needs, so it is difficult to compare.

I will just reiterate that it would be nice to get tx for the whole body in the tx of cancer.  And I can see where a place that only deals with cancer 'should' be better at providing care.  But obviously that isn't always the case. 

rreynolds1

Hi All,

I have always enjoyed their tv advertisements and would definately check into them further if I felt my cancer wasn't being controlled or I wasn't being treated properly by my local medical team.  I think we need to be careful but I hope we don't become synical.  There are some great cancer care centers and this sounds like one of them.  Good for you Yazmin.

Roseann

Yazmin

My bill for the above-mentioned trip to the CTCA-Philadelphia has now been settled by my insurance. 

After my initial post, a few people reported a negative experience with the CTCA's billing practices. runswithscissors, in particular, you wrote this: "....I was betrayed by the CTCA, and I don't want that to happen to others...." Again I am truly sorry that your experience with the CTCA was negative.

As promised I am coming back to this thread to report that everything went as expected for me: The CTCA had contacted my insurance company ahead of time to have my check-up approved (along with all related procedures, of course); my insurance has now paid my bill without any difficulty at all, except, of course, for my deductible. They paid 80% of my bill instead of the 90% that they would have normally paid, owing to the fact that the CTCA is an out-of-network facility for my insurance.

Therefore, I am happy to report that I am satisfied with this financial outcome, as the amount of money that I ended up paying out-of-pocket in completely reasonable. 

I have a feeling that for most of the people who, unfortunately, encountered unforeseen financial difficulties, the insurance companies they are dealing with might be the problem, more so than the CTCA (pardon me for this assumption. Of course, I just don't know, but for sure, I don't  have any financial problem with the CTCA).

carol1949

I didn't go to CCTA, but would have liked to.  My dh lost his job one week after I was dx with bc and so it was a stressful time.  Fortunately, my onc was a personal friend, and I felt comfortable with her.

My girlfriend is a 12 year survivor who went thru the CCTA in Zion and she was inspirational to me in this journey including loaning me tapes that they had her listen to prior to and during surgery!  She had a very discouraging experience in 2 facilities in upstate NY where she said she wouldn't have taken her cat!)

My dh also used to work for BCBS of FL. (Each state is a different company even though under the BCBS name.)  I can tell you from his stories, that we feel BCBS is a very corrupt company.  Even within the last 10 years some departments were still writing stuff on pencil and paper!  One of the CEO's is also a lobbyist in DC !  I think that is a conflict of interest!  What I am trying to say here is it isn't always the facility.... sometimes it is the insurer.  My coverage was 80% at various hospitals, but would have only covered 60% at Mayo Clinic.  So, you see it isn't just CCTA that has higher bottom lines!

As for Canadian care.  We only know what we hear.  I do know  that they certainly pay for health care through their taxes.  It isn't just free.  I also hear that the care varies depending on the Providences they live in much like the schools here vary on the affluency of any given area of the country.

I am not sure why so many people get upset about hearing about this wonderful facility!

They were the first in the country to treat body, mind and spirit.  We are losing too many women on this site that are doing only traditional therapy .There has to be a better way!

Diagnosis: 4/4/2008, IDC, 6cm+, Stage IIIb, ER+, HER2-