I haven’t written a letter to the editor in 30 years, but I am so incensed by the medical insurance quagmire that seniors must navigate I couldn’t ignore it.
In June, I had my annual physical with the appropriate lab work. After 10 years of no billing problems with my Medicare Advantage plan, suddenly I am being billed for part of the lab work. I contacted the provider who said that it must be my co-pay — wrong! Medicare pays for all lab work related to the annual wellness exam. I then contacted my insurer, who said that the provider billed the lab work and visit separately when it should have been under one claim.
The bottom line is that the provider and insurance company just point fingers at each other with the patient stuck in the middle. How many seniors are paying for services that should be covered because the providers and insurance companies won’t talk to each other to fix problems? Far too many!
