Specialist appt troubles

[af1212]

I have been seeing a neurologist for migraines for the past 10 years. I last saw them in the winter of 2011. At that appt I told them that I was planning to become pregnant in the near future and they told me to come back when I was finished breastfeeding. My OB has been refilling my prescriptions since then.

Fast forward to today when my stubborn baby has finally weaned for sure! I called the office to schedule an appt and they said I would have to begin as a new patient since it has been almost 3 years since I was last seen. This means I will have to wait a looooong time to see someone, and also that I will have to come in for a new patient eval. The eval was about $550 when I had it done last time(10 yrs ago) and is not covered by insurance.

Is this a normal policy? Does anyone have an idea of what I can do next? I feel like crying

[Deleted]

Well it makes sense that you'd need to be seen as a new patient since it's been nearly 3 years since you've been seen. That's a long time and a lot can change in that time period.

What kind of insurance do you have that it'll cost $550? Do you have a specialist copay that it could fall under?

Are there any other neurologists in the area that have any sooner appointments? I'm not sure how that would help with your insurance not covering it, but at least you'd get seen sooner.

[af1212]

Sept 22, 2014 16:46:24 GMT -5 @wandering said:

Well it makes sense that you'd need to be seen as a new patient since it's been nearly 3 years since you've been seen. That's a long time and a lot can change in that time period.

What kind of insurance do you have that it'll cost $550? Do you have a specialist copay that it could fall under?

Are there any other neurologists in the area that have any sooner appointments? I'm not sure how that would help with your insurance not covering it, but at least you'd get seen sooner.

I understand that it's been a while and things could change.  However, I wish that they had told me about the restriction when they told me to come back after I was finished with pregnancy and breastfeeding.  If I had been aware of the policy I would have come back a few months ago even though I was still breastfeeding just to stay within the window.

The issue isn't my insurance, it's that the initial appt for this neurology practice includes some procedures/tests that are not covered by insurance in general.  It's been a long time since I had it done, but I think it's things like a psych eval, and a training session with a biofeedback specialist.

I would rather not move to another neurology practice at this point.  I went through several neurologists in the first 5 or so years of trying to figure out my migraines before moving here.  This practice specializes in headaches and offers treatment options, opportunities to participate in studies, etc that the other practices don't.

Thanks for your thoughts!  I appreciate it!

[Deleted]

Sept 22, 2014 20:19:07 GMT -5 af1212 said:

Sept 22, 2014 16:46:24 GMT -5 @wandering said:

Well it makes sense that you'd need to be seen as a new patient since it's been nearly 3 years since you've been seen. That's a long time and a lot can change in that time period.

What kind of insurance do you have that it'll cost $550? Do you have a specialist copay that it could fall under?

Are there any other neurologists in the area that have any sooner appointments? I'm not sure how that would help with your insurance not covering it, but at least you'd get seen sooner.

I understand that it's been a while and things could change.  However, I wish that they had told me about the restriction when they told me to come back after I was finished with pregnancy and breastfeeding.  If I had been aware of the policy I would have come back a few months ago even though I was still breastfeeding just to stay within the window.

The issue isn't my insurance, it's that the initial appt for this neurology practice includes some procedures/tests that are not covered by insurance in general.  It's been a long time since I had it done, but I think it's things like a psych eval, and a training session with a biofeedback specialist.

I would rather not move to another neurology practice at this point.  I went through several neurologists in the first 5 or so years of trying to figure out my migraines before moving here.  This practice specializes in headaches and offers treatment options, opportunities to participate in studies, etc that the other practices don't.

Thanks for your thoughts!  I appreciate it!

Aww that stinks, that sucks that they didn't tell you the exact timing of when you would become a new patient. Maybe flameful, but it probably wouldn't cross my mind that you would be breastfeeding for 2 years to put you in the new patient category after 9 months of pregnancy and 2 years of breast feeding. So they probably thought you'd be back within 2 years. But they should've definitely been more clear with you.

Maybe they can work with you in regards to not having all of the expensive testing done? Or do you have an HSA that you could use for this? 

It sounds like a great practice that hopefully you'll benefit from all that they have to offer. Good luck!

[Deleted]

I just thought of something else. Maybe they'll consider it a new patient appointment in that your first appointment back will be scheduled for longer because they want to go through all of your history again and make sure everything is correct. However, maybe you can ask them if you can bypass all the specialty testing such as the biofeedback due to the cost implications and you've already had it done. Hopefully they'll work with you in that regards.