Insurance no longer accepted by Hospital/Doctors

Anonymous

Insurance no longer accepted by Hospital/Doctors

chi-girl

I got a notice today from University of Chicago that they will no longer be accepting United Healthcare as of the end of this month. So much for ample notice--at least UofC said something. I received nothing from United Healthcare. This is where I went for all my treatments and am still going for follow-up care. (My Oncologist appt, mammo and appt with the Breast Surgeon.) Lead-times on appts are months, so there is no chance I will be able to see them before 6/30.

Anyone else have to deal with changing all their doctors, unexpectedly? How did you get your information transferred?

And it sucks that I can't even say goodbye to the team of people who treated me.

ElaineTherese

Hi!

A few months ago, I got a notice from my insurance company stating that my oncologist would no longer be considered "in-network" as she had resigned from her current employer and no longer had a contract with the company. Since I get my insurance through my employer, I called HR. HR hooked me up with a representative from the insurance company, and I found out that contract negotiations were ongoing and that they were looking to resolve the issue. In any case, my oncologist is setting up a new practice about 40 minutes north of me. I have decided to stay with her former associates because I work full time and would rather not spend an entire morning driving to and from her new hospital.

It is not difficult to get your information transferred from one doctor to another. My OB/GYN just decided to go back to his home state. He sent his patients a one-page form that authorized his office to send my information to my new OB/GYN. When I found my new OB/GYN, I just sent that form into his office and my records were shipped.

Yes, it sucks about not being able to say "goodbye." I loved my MO, but her former associates seem fine, and I'm in the "maintenance" stage. Now, if this had happened in the midst of chemo, I would have been seriously annoyed. But, I'm good.

rainnyc

It does stink. You might be able to get them to accept United Healthcare for a limited time under continuity of care rules. It's worth a call to the insurer. I believe rules vary from place to place, but when that happened to me (NY) I found that there is a 60-day window during which you can see your old doctors IF you're being treated for a chronic disease. Cancer fits that definition.

For what it's worth, this did happen to me, and I received notice 5 days after my mastectomy. Not the best news! In my case, it was the insurer going out of business. Those of us being treated at the hospital were given a one-year transition period with a new insurer, and after that year was up, I switched to another insurer, which is out of network with my MO, so the hospital bills the insurer and I get approval 4 months at a time. It's nerve-wracking, but at least so far, it has been working out.

I found it was extremely helpful to talk to the social worker when all of this was going on. She gave me the direct line of the hospital's director of patient financial services, and they could not have been nicer. She also told me that it was okay to push and to keep asking questions until I got the answer I wanted. She has always been great with information about how the system works.

Good luck!

chi-girl

Thanks for the input everyone.

I guess in retrospect, it's not as bad as it could have been. Thankfully I'm in maintenance mode. Rainnyc, I can't imagine what you were going through--tacking that worry onto an otherwise worrisome situation.

I called United Healthcare and they said I wasn't covered for continuation of service because I am in maintenance mode. My HR wasn't helpful either and told me to call United Healthcare.

It sounds like I need to start calling my doctors and getting them to send me the forms.

Seems like it should be a law or a requirement that patients are given ample notice when a change like this comes about. 3 ish weeks is not enough time.