Pace maker

pacemaker

by capecod - 2018-11-30 16:27:47

oh spanky....please dont try to remove your device!  you obviously need it.  there must be agencies in FL that can help you.....your doctors office should be able to refer you for assistance.  

Pm

by Spanky - 2018-11-30 20:12:59

I have went down this ave, i have given my records to the Agencies , one i do get a retirement , so no medicade , medicare, ssi or any other assitance, then the next step, they agree there is not enogh, between the discounts that they give the folks that dont have ins. I love my country, and i served it well, but wasnt during war time so Va cant help. It is five more years till ss can help and they wont bend, i have tried to work but no one wants to take a risk on me. So life is not that enjoyable, the last year has been down right miserable with hospital and doctors bills. So bad that i even had to go to court so they could see i could only afford what i told them in the begging. So it has been a fight. And the energy it is taking to fight is is exhusting. Being an ex fire man and army man i adapt , but the reources are gone. I was also taught not to have something you cant afford. So i am in a pickle. Ty though.

So Don't Give Up

by Grateful Heart - 2018-11-30 21:18:56

Dig down deep and don't give up.  Contact your representive, they can help.....that is what they are there for.  Also speak to the patient advocate at your hospital.

I just got a "magic box" to go along with my newly replaced device.  They don't want me back for a year now.......ok.

Who paid for your implant?.....they are expensive.  They are not going to demand it back....they cannot reuse it.

I think your question about cutting the wires out is rehetorical.  You know better.

Firemen and the military don't give up.....find the fire within you.   

Grateful Heart

Where the ^%$#$^^ are the doctors in your area?

by donr - 2018-11-30 22:47:48

Have they NOT read the Ethics proclamations of the AMA that ALL Dr's are expected to follw??  Seems to me that those articles require that physicians help the indigent when they have troubles.  Whoever put that thing in you knew what he/she was doing.  Also the life-cycle costs of maintaining it. 

I assure you that the long-term cost to the cardio is nowhere near as steep as the installation costs..

Before going further, I assure you that it can be done.   Struggle as she might in a start-up practice,  my Dr. Daughter has floated severral patients with long term chronic problems till they could get  financial assistance.  The only riches she had were her knowledge & skills that her patients didn't have.

Donr

What a shame

by Zanneblake - 2018-12-01 00:20:26

I don’t think that the hospital can deny you services. Keep going and ask them to bill you for your copayments. 

I hate to hear you are having so much trouble. The medical system is broken

Headed down the same rabbit hole.....

by BOBTHOM - 2018-12-01 11:18:12

I just had my ssdi hearing this past Wed 11/28/18.  Now I have to wait up to 60 days to hear from the judge to find out if he approves me.  If I do not get approved, my savings and resources will run out in about 2 years.  Unfortunately, they will not help you until you have nothing.  Fortunately for me I have been able to afford insurance and qualified for maximum subsidies, but that will end after next year.  Only thing I can think of is to move north where they have expanded medicaid, or California and claim immigrant status.

Of course on the other side of this,  they really can't reposses the device, and after they bill you and you appeal/hide/stall them for a few years you can file for bankruptcy and the bills will all magically disappear.  It will impact your credit rating, but, at the point where you're at in your life does that matter?   The worst part of it, will be the nagging voice in your head that tells you to live within your means and honor your debts.  You need to try to put that aside and get into survival mode.   I wish you the best of luck!

If you get disapproved....

by donr - 2018-12-01 21:17:00

....Contact me.  We had a woman get turned down & I wrote her appeal - TWICE.   Frst time I wrtote my magnum opus - a fine piece of expository prose.  Superb work.  Broke my arm patting my self on the back.  My penny pencil was worn to a nub from the effort.

I spent a full week on it.  I was so proud of my little self.

Then: I imadvertently asked to see a copy of her denial letter!

What a pile of CRAP I had written!  The denial letter told me EXACTLY what to write!   TheyTOLD me why she didn't get approvd!  All I had to do was address & refute their points.  They even gave me explicit references as to the point I needed to address. 

I crumpled up the Magnum Opus & shredded it - HIPAA, you know!  sat down & w/i one hour had cranked out about 6 pages addressing what they told me were its deficiencies.  I had NOT addressed a single one in my appeal.    Prepared a three page "Talking Points Paper"  FOR MY PHYSICIAN (fULL DISCLOSURE - MY MD Daughter) & sent them off to the appeal hearing.  Woman had a lawyer representing her - Didn't do squat to help.  Judge listened to MD Daughter give her testimony, read the appeal & tyold us on the spot that we were successful.  Less than two weeks later we got the official response. 

BTW, we did this all pro bono. 

Donr