I couldn't believe what I had just heard!!! I told the receptionist that I could self-pay; but again she told me that they WERE NOT ALLOWED to accept Medicare patients...EVEN IF I SELF PAID!!!
I was told that they ( the hospital and doctors ) had an agreement with Medicare that their doctors and the hospital WOULD NOT accept Medicare patients. Why? Because their doctors and the hospital refused to accept the rules and the schedule of reimbursements, which Medicare had to offer to them.
I'm not sure if I have explained this very well...But to continue: IF the doctors and the hospital WOULD ACCEPT Medicare's involvement, then they would have to agree and be satisfied with Medicare's rules and schedule of payments for a Medicare patient's medical and surgical care.
In other words: WHAT Medicare DID NOT PAY, the doctors, anesthesists,and the hospital would have to "write-off the balance"...which means that THEY CAN NEVER BILL THE PATIENT for the balance, which Medicare DID NOT PAY!!
I COULD NOT believe what I had heard!!! It did not make any sense to me!! Over a period of several months,I posted messages at the various forums with the hope of finding an explanation as to why I COULD NOT be accepted as a patient - simply because I was a Medicare patient. It took me about 6 months to find the answer.
Eventually, someone e-mailed the information to me - which helped me to understand why I was being denied healthcare by doctors and the hospital at Atlanta, Georgia. Here is the answer...and this still does not make sense to me!!!
Medicare's policy is...when the doctors and hospital DO NOT ACCEPT Medicare's rules and schedule of payments for surgical procedures, THEY ARE NOT ALLOWED to accept Medicare patients!! WHY? "THIS IS MEDICARE's WAY OF PROTECTING SENIOR CITIZENS from having to pay for expensive medical care. If a senior citizen is able to self-pay,DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? I surely don't think so!!!!!!!!
TODAY...I received a phone call telling me the very same information, which I had heard a few years ago: "I am sorry but the state of Pennsylvania does not allow Medicare patients at this hospital." I said, "Well, I can self-pay." She said, "No, you are not allowed to self-pay in this state." She continued by telling me: "You will have to have your surgery done at St. Vincent's in New York."
WHAT'S GOING ON!! NONE OF THIS MAKES SENSE TO ME!!