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Trip To Mayo


crowebirds

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TLC has been on the MAYO waiting list for six months now. One of the biggest questions that we really can't grasp a good idea for is how much it will cost us. I do know that the Mayo clinic in Minnesota is covered as an in-network provider for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama. So I am really not expecting to spend a whole lot in regards to medical other than deductibles, copays, DME and the usual stuff.

However, we are currently looking at putting braces on TLC which will definitely cost us an arm and a leg. But before we do it, want to know if there are any surprise charges that insurance may not cover.

Can anyone give me a ball park idea of how much it would cost for a couple weeks at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota? Would it be in the area of a few hundred, thousand or more than I would really want to know? If not looking at it in dollars, would you be able to tell, what types of things you had to spin money on, both medically and based on lodging and travel?

Thanks!

Robin

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Your insurance company may be able to gather an estimated cost for services. Before I went to Emory, my insurance company sent me an email regarding specific services they thought I would receive and Emory's associated costs. It was an estimate, of sorts; the insurance claims Emory has filed that I have reviewed online are very close to this estimate. I have State Health Employee Benefits in Georgia, so I do not know if all insurance companies do this or not. I am able to lookup a good bit of information on their website, and then if I can't find what I am looking for, I can click a Service Estimator button and submit the information. I typically get a response within 48-72 hours.

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Hi Robin-

I had the same questions when I took my son to Johns Hopkins for a complete work-up. They were also "in-network" for us. To see the greatest doctor in the world- Dr. Peter Rowe (IMHO :D ), we paid a $25 co-pay. For the total cost of my son's 3-4 day stay, it was deductible, co-pays, etc. No surprises. I ensured that everyone was in-network before we proceeded. One doctor was not, BUT he held monthly clinics at Hopkins. We made sure that Mack was seen & billed like that.

I pray the trip will be fruitful. Let us know!!!

Julie

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You must call your insurance company before you go. And call Mayo to get preauths if you need them. Be thorough about it just to be sure. I came home to a 10K bill, I still owe them money. I just assumed it was covered, but with Oxford it was out of network. At least you know for sure they are in-network. Sounds like a good start!! Good luck!!!

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Uh, not to scare you, but I guess it depends on how good your insurance is. I had what I thought was decent insurance (state employee insurance, can't remember if it was Blue Cross at the time or not, we have had to switch every year for 5 years because of the state budget cuts)we pre-authorized everything and still the insurance came back and tried to fight us on everything we had done. We paid hundreds of dollars of copays up front only to turn around months later (after our insurance had changed for the year) and receive highly inflated bills the insurance refused to pay. We fought them for months about it, but two years post-Mayo I am still paying off my balance. On the good side, the Mayo has a really reasonable payment plan where you can pay as little as 50 bucks a month toward your balance.

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Uh, not to scare you, but I guess it depends on how good your insurance is. I had what I thought was decent insurance (state employee insurance, can't remember if it was Blue Cross at the time or not, we have had to switch every year for 5 years because of the state budget cuts)we pre-authorized everything and still the insurance came back and tried to fight us on everything we had done. We paid hundreds of dollars of copays up front only to turn around months later (after our insurance had changed for the year) and receive highly inflated bills the insurance refused to pay. We fought them for months about it, but two years post-Mayo I am still paying off my balance. On the good side, the Mayo has a really reasonable payment plan where you can pay as little as 50 bucks a month toward your balance.

That is true about the payment plan. I was paying around $100 until I just couldn't pay anymore :(

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My first visit was $80,000 + that was for 3 weeks. Just the Mayo bill not the hotel, food etc. I did have good insurance so all I had to pay was my out of pocket total and the doctor visit co-pay. That was with Blue Cross. There were a few bills and doctors that were not covered by insurance and I appealed the decisions. After about 3 appeals and staying in touch with Mayo about the situation - it was adjusted by Mayo - AZ. My second visit was over 30,000. This is not a cheap place to go - but it is a very through place to go. I'm really impressed with the way they do things. I had only one really awful doctor - the rest of the experience was wonderful. I don't know how MN works, but AZ was very good. When I went the good POTS doc wasn't there and I hit a wall here. They were good at test and diagnosising but not treatment - at that time. Many docs there, were not informed about POTS either. If I'd had the tilt test first, probably all the other test wouldn't have been done. In my case, it was the very last test that was done. It took a LONG time, because so many directions were taken before the final conclusion with the very LAST test. It is a rare disorder and not many docs have knowledge of it - even at Mayo. Hoping things go well for you and yours.

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Uh, not to scare you, but I guess it depends on how good your insurance is. I had what I thought was decent insurance (state employee insurance, can't remember if it was Blue Cross at the time or not, we have had to switch every year for 5 years because of the state budget cuts)we pre-authorized everything and still the insurance came back and tried to fight us on everything we had done. We paid hundreds of dollars of copays up front only to turn around months later (after our insurance had changed for the year) and receive highly inflated bills the insurance refused to pay. We fought them for months about it, but two years post-Mayo I am still paying off my balance. On the good side, the Mayo has a really reasonable payment plan where you can pay as little as 50 bucks a month toward your balance.

I am so sorry you have had to go through that. I have dealt with insurance companies before that have done the same thing. This is also what I am afraid of now. But, I am glad to hear that Mayo will work with us. Thank you!

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My first visit was $80,000 + that was for 3 weeks. Just the Mayo bill not the hotel, food etc. I did have good insurance so all I had to pay was my out of pocket total and the doctor visit co-pay. That was with Blue Cross. There were a few bills and doctors that were not covered by insurance and I appealed the decisions. After about 3 appeals and staying in touch with Mayo about the situation - it was adjusted by Mayo - AZ. My second visit was over 30,000. This is not a cheap place to go - but it is a very through place to go. I'm really impressed with the way they do things. I had only one really awful doctor - the rest of the experience was wonderful. I don't know how MN works, but AZ was very good. When I went the good POTS doc wasn't there and I hit a wall here. They were good at test and diagnosising but not treatment - at that time. Many docs there, were not informed about POTS either. If I'd had the tilt test first, probably all the other test wouldn't have been done. In my case, it was the very last test that was done. It took a LONG time, because so many directions were taken before the final conclusion with the very LAST test. It is a rare disorder and not many docs have knowledge of it - even at Mayo. Hoping things go well for you and yours.

Did you pay a copay for each doctor that you saw? And, do you remember approximately how many doctors you had to see? TLC's entire autonomic system is affected so I am expecting one doctor per each system.

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Thank you, everyone. I am a planner and like to have things laid out in advance, especially when looking at multiple high dollar events.

TLC needs braces, but she needs Mayo clinic even more, but it sounds like we may be able to handle both. I will contact BC/BS ahead of time

based on your responses. I never realized that they could give an estimate of cost.

Again, Thank you all so much.

Robin

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