Dr Goodman

[icesktr189]

I saw Dr Goodman last week and he wants me to do a ton of testing....problem is my insurance is not covered and I had to fight tooth and nail to even get in to see him. I know I can do my blood labs and MRI outside of Mayo, but I really doubt I will be able to find a neuro who does all that autonomic testing. I was lucky to get a tilt, let alone all the testing Mayo does. So my question is,have you been to a doctor who knows all of that autonomic testing?

[MandyBrook]

I wish I could help you as I'm still goog through the process to be properly diagnosed myself. I'll be praying for you!!!

Mandy

[sue1234]

Dr. Suleman does all that testing in Dallas. Would he be an option for your insurance?

[arizona girl]

Dani,

Can you check to see if any of the doctors at Phoenix Neurological Associates in Phoenix are on your plan. Go to their website to see the doctor's names. Mine is Todd Levine. They are currently partnering with Mayo for epilespy. But they specialize in neuromuscular diseases like ms, als, neuropathies, stiff persons, etc.

What autonomic tests or other tests was Goodman asking for? I can check to see if they are the same ones my doc did. Phx neuro does qsart and skin biopsy, plus a lot of rare disease blood labs to try to find cause. They also specialize in other types of muscle biopsies.

Maybe it would be possible for goodman to partner with one of the docs at phoenix neuro, for patients like you who's insurance won't cover certain tests done at mayo. BTW Dr. Levine is part of group of docs that are very interested in the autonomic dysfunction issues seen in pots and neuromuscular disease. They have I think a discussion group that meets online regularly. One of my goals next time I see him is to see if he will disclose the names of the doctors and where they practice. There is only a small group of neuro's who specialize in this area of neurology.

Hope you and your growing baby are doing well as can be expected.

[issie]

arizona girl, I'd be interested to know what other docs in the area are interested in POTS too.

Dani, Mayo is un-real expensive. If you don't have insurance - there is probably no way you could possibly pay for all of it. When Goodman did my test and it wasn't all the ones they normally do - it was over $30,000. I could not in any way have gone to Mayo without my insurance being on board. My first visit there was over $83,000. What's good about Mayo is the ease of it - you don't have to run around town to have all the test - they are done in one place and it takes less energy. But, there are probably other places that can do them.

Issie

[Maiysa]

Hi Dani,

Good to see you got an appointment with Dr. Goodman. Anyhow, my insurance doesn't cover them either and we had already spent about $10,000 with the valley fever situation since no one here could figure it out. So For Dr. G, we went to the financial office there and explained to them our situation. We paid up front for the down payment, like about $250 or something, but they let us make payments on the Qsart. You can get a pre expense report as to about how much it's going to be from the office in the basement floor. We agreed to $100 a month, they argued with us at first, but that's how we did it. But if you don't want to do that, my insurance does cover Dr. Levine's office in Texas for some strange reason. But you can call there and ask if they take your insurance. Also, Dr. Goodman understood we were already in financial bind at the time with all the money we already owed Mayo so he was very understanding and wonderful about sending tests for me to do back home through my insurance. And whatever you do, don't talk to the main office about financial things, I think it was the 800 number, they are just operators and they were very difficult. I had a terrible time with them and they demanded the money right now after I already made an arrangement with Scottsdale, so be sure you always are able to talk to the Scottsdale financial people. They were much more compassionate and flexible. I hope I don't cause any issues with this post, it will probably be edited. Not sure I'm allowed to say specific names if it's negative. Sorry girls if I caused you some work. If so, I can just PM you Dani. But I hope others know that Mayo will work with you. It just might be a little bit of work. Good luck Dani!! I hope you got a little further with your issues and getting some help. Dr. Goodman is really worth the money. But I'm sure you're not working and this can be a financial burden. IT's just not fair sometimes that our insurance can't cover these docs who have potential to help us. You can also file some paperwork with your insurance explaining why you have to go to him and that there are no other testing facilities near by with your insurance. I tried that and it didn't work for me, but hopefully your insurance company will be more open to this.

[Lemons2lemonade]

dani, most of the tests can be done by a normal neurologist that dr. goodman runs. The only specialty test that my insurance company couldn't do was the autonomic reflex screen which includes the sweat test, breathing tests, and ttt if i remember . The blood work, emg, qsart, etc should be able to be done by your normal doc.If your insurance doesn't have a provider that can do an autonomic reflex screen(because they don't have the equipment) then they need to refer you to someone who can. I suspect an appeal will be necessary.