Insurance And S/c Condition

[SEJones]

Did something change? I go to my local VA med center ONLY for my s/c condtion. Everything else is taken care of by my HMO which is close to home. In the last month the VA has gone back and billed my insuranc for a years worth of vistits and test. I have called the VA and they said there is some kind of coding problem. Anyway I am concerned that I am going to loose the little insurance that I do have and the VA is no where near where I live so I like to convience of the HMO. Ideas? What can I do to protect myself?

SE

[Pete53]

That sucks you should follow up till it gets straightened out.

[Guest jstacy]

Did something change?  I go to my local VA med center ONLY for my s/c condtion.  Everything else is taken care of by my HMO which is close to home.  In the last month the VA has gone back and billed my insuranc for a years worth of vistits and test.  I have called the VA and they said there is some kind of coding problem.  Anyway I am concerned that I am going to loose the little insurance that I do have and the VA is no where near where I live so I like to convience of the HMO.  Ideas? What can I do to protect myself?

SE

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

CAll your insurance company, Explain what the VA did and that the VA Billed them incorrectly. It was not a coding problem. It was a clerk mistake which has Billed the insurance company. Big insurance companies dont like to pay for stuff they are not responsible for. It really upsets them. Let them also contact the VA.

[rogus]

over the past couple of years the VA has been billing those vets fortunate enough to be able to get private health insurance. In fact every time you check in at the VA here you are asked if you have health insurance no matter what you are being seen for. I personally would love to have private insurance but no company will offer it to me.

[wayne]

Believe me there is no "coding problems" or "mistakes". If you have private health insurance the VA will bill them and they will pay for visits for service connected disibilities. I've been throught it all. I was told by the VA clinic that they are allowed to bill your private insurance for your visits for SC disibilities.

I had Blue Cross Blue Shield when I worked for the State of South Carolina and was rated 50% which all of my care should have been covered by the VA. I called The Insurance Company and told them the situation. They said they didn't care. If they received a bill from the VA they just paid it, no questions asked.

When I became to disabled to work my wife put me on her insurance (same company) the same thing happened. I had her drop me and the VA has taken care of everything since. Even now, if fact today, I went to Dorn VA Hospital Columbia SC for an Epidural and the first form they gave me was an insurance form. I just signed the form and left the rest blank.

I understand the importance of private insurance for a lot of vets who just don't trust VA medical care. I've had a few problems also but I was promised that if you are 50% or greater all health care and meds are free. I am not going to pay the outragous preminums for my age (54) and all of my disabilities are service connected. I haven't had to pay any copays either.

SO if you have private insurance and you can find a way to get the VA to stop chipping away at it please pass it on for the other vets getting ripped off.

WAYNE (LLEWELLYN)

[Testvet]

Fort Gordon did the same thing for my step son, his father was a retired CW4, covered by his dad's tricare right? nope they billed my blue cross 100 bucks for every visit, it didn't matter what he went for the bill was always the same, we couldn;t get them to quit doing it and Blue Cross to stop paying it, so we learned in Jan to take him and his sister out for their shrink visit and a doctors check up in Jan and that covered the 400 family deductible for the year. The system is messed up and Blue Cross just doesn;t care, if they get a bill from the government they just pay it, no questions asked. Lewellyn you couldn;t pay me to go back to Dorn I go to Augusta VA, I have great doctors there, every time I have tried to use Dorn it turned into a nightmare.