Guest guest Posted March 31, 2002 Report Share Posted March 31, 2002 Just a word of caution. Last year my wife, who had been diagnosed with MSA in 1998 by a local Neuro and confirned by Dr Ravin at the UMass Medical Center the same year and who is currently treating her made four visits to Mt Sinai Hospital beginning in April 2001 for the purpose of participating in the Clinical Study under Dr. Kaufmann. After the four trips from our home in Ct and participating in the required complex testing including another MRI and $7,135 some of which was paid by our insurance we were told Connie was not eligible for the study because of the wide variances in her blood pressure. Perhaps some of this was our fault because of our ignorance but you should ask a lot of questions up front. Jim/Connie Bynum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 31, 2002 Report Share Posted March 31, 2002 Jim/Connie, sorry to hear about your bad experience with a clinical test (CT). If I were you I would discuss this with the Hospital Administration. It is the duty of the Clinical Testing Agency to explain the entire protocol of the CT. We just participated in a CT for PD/MSA/AD at NIH. The staff was wonderful we knew the entire protocol before the test and they still explained each step as the test proceeded. They covered all expenses. Please bring your concerns to the Administration. We have enough problems/opportunities in Life not to have a bad administrative experience during a CT. Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 31, 2002 Report Share Posted March 31, 2002 Jim/Connie, I agree with Al, check with the hospital. They will usually bill the insurance to cut their costs, but will also usually accept what the insurance pays for clinical trials. If they would not do that for tests to get you into the trials, they should have explained that in advance. I always ask the doctor (not the receptionist) about fees and if they are a participating doctor and often they will just say, " I'll accept what your plan pays " . That saved me over $5000 on my heart operation. I have found that doctors don't want to haggle any more than you do (is that why they hire rude billing clerks to hassle you ) BUT, once they have done whatever, they hate to back down from their price. Tomorrow I get Medicare, and no longer have to hassle them, just ask the doctor if they accept assignment from Medicare and let them fight it out ) Take care, Bill Werre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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