My wife has a herniated disc in her neck, and her doc wrote up an MRI referral for her 6 months ago. She made the appointment, and the first thing the MRI place wanted to know was the Medicare code on the referral. It was read off and said the numbers were not good. She called the doc back and it was resent with the correct code. Again, it was flagged due to improper coding. She finally got pissed and called Medicare directly for the proper code, and after an hour on the phone, they came up with the proper number and Medicare submitted the paperwork to the MRI place. Yet, once again, the MRI kicked back the paperwork to the doctor saying this was also the incorrect code. She contacted the billing department at the MRI place and spoke to the billing person, asking for the proper code. The lady said this information was confidential, and referred her back to her doctor. He doctor then called the MRI billing lady asking for the proper code and they told my doctor it was not up to her to tell her the proper code, and she would need to consult with Medicare.
3 weeks later, we still have no MRI scheduled, the doctor has given up, the MRI refuses to book my wife, and Medicare insists the number they provided was the correct number.
Although we have the top of the line insurance, but being over 65, the insurance will not pay unless it is approved by Medicare, so we are stuck in the middle with no help.
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is what has happened to our Medical system as a result of Obamacare.