Program Fee & Dr. Hess

[Guest guest]

I am resending this because I am totally confused, because this is the

response I got to my first posting of this which went to

duodenalswitch , as it always does - very strange!! WHAT?

Carole

Subj: Automated Reply: Program Fee & Dr. Hess

Date: 10/16/01 9:35:32 PM Eastern Daylight Time

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Here is my original post. Sorry if this posts twice, but that Stanley

employee message I got really made me nuts! How could that happen????

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As of this writing, Dr. Hess (Bowling Green, OH) does not charge a program

fee. He does charge a fee of $2500 up front, but that is only for certain

insurance companies who take way too long in paying him. The letter I got

from his office states it is required for the following insurances: Anthem

Blue Cross, Medical Mutual (my company), Aetna and EBMC (I have no idea what

this one is, I think it is an Ohio localized insurance).

The receptionist said they have thought of charging this for everyone since

it is getting so hard to keep track of them all, but right now, they don't.

Now, Dr. Hess is not in ANY networks. So, if you have insurance like mine,

you pay more for a non-network Doctor/Surgeon. So, the upfront money may not

come back to me, since I have to make up the difference, which is either 20

or 30%. Dr. Hess wants $5000 for his portion, which I think is reasonable,

considering his expertise. His Hospital, Wood County Hospital IS in my

network, so that should be covered 100%.

So, if you don't have any of the above listed insurances, you can probably go

to Dr. Hess and get DS without any upfront fee, at least as it stands right

now.

I also don't think Dr. Maguire (Kettering, OH) charges an upfront fee. Dr.

Maguire is in my network, so as far as I can see, he would be covered 100%.

His hospital is also in my network, so should be covered 100% after

deductible, which I think is $500.

Carole