Think how much worse that graph would be if the government had forced us to get rid of our beloved health-insurance companies.
From the Cleveland Clinic. However, MyChart is used in a lot of hospitals. No word on if it is platform-wide or CCF specific.
This is going to have a chilling effect on messages leading to worse medical outcomes and eventually get someone killed.
MyChart is the patient portal for Epic System’s EHR.
This is a Cleveland Clinic thing.
Although CPT codes exist for telephone, email, etc advice so potentially any provider can decide to bill for it. Whether insurance pays is another question, which I know is one reason we haven’t even given it much thought.
Before you jump systems because of the shameless greed over to UH, be aware they’re considering adopting this kind of fee in 2023. Summa (Akron) is currently keeping clear of it.
Insurers started paying for televisits during covid. In my state they even waived all copays. These are interactive conversations thought.
I don’t know of any code to answer messages. Traditionally those were considered part of already-billed encounters and not separately billed. (For example, calling patient to report lab results). What’s the code, I am curious.
Thankfully most of my care goes through the Summa system… for now. I’m sure the Clinic would love to expand their footprint and buy them out.
Several years ago, I was once a fly in the wall for a marketing discussion being held between the Cleveland Clinic, a well-known local university, a major local employer, and a “random” baseball team. I came away with the impression the Clinic was extremely proud of their plans to cost-effectively take over the world, lol.
I’m actually shopping for a plan on the exchange for the first time in 7 years. Honestly, no idea what to look for. I know the basics — we are healthy and not poor so I’ll trade a higher deductible for lower premiums — but otherwise choosing between hundreds of nearly identical plans is impossible. And I haven’t used any insurance, so I have no current direct experience to guide me on comparing carriers.
Anybody have anything good to say about insurers in central FL?
Avoid wellcare at all costs
Helpful, thx!
If there’s not an insurer called GatorAid I’m going to be so sad.
The one time I seriously looked at the exchange I happily was able to get insurance elsewhere. Everything now is high deductible and that so called cheap insurance doesn’t exist.
I don’t know if the Florida exchange lists the in network claim denial percentage but I would look for that.
Exchange plans are much more likely to deny your claims than employer plans because they don’t care as much about pissing you off. With employer plans, and a group size of 100k, it’s not worth it for the insurer to save on one claim and risk the entire account. With a group size of 1 or 2, it’s worth it for them to deny everything if you get expensive – even if it’s definitely covered, most people won’t jump through the hoops to force them to pay.
If you have specific doctors in mind, check they take whatever you’re thinking of getting. Exchange plans don’t seem to be popular where we are. You’ll have noticed that say bronze plans save upfront and cost more when the truck hits.
There are a lot of plans from e.g Blue Cross / Blue Shield and United Health, which I’m assuming service providers will treat like employer-provided plans by the same carriers. I’m already avoiding any insurer I’ve never heard of or that sounds like it might be two guys in a garage.
That was my plan as well. I had been covered by Blue Shield prior to that so I assumed I would at least know what to expect.
UF’s actual plan for employees is GatorCare. Opportunity squandered
I believe it used to be 99444 and has been replaced by time based codes 99421, 99422, and 99423.
Thanks to all for the helpful advice!
Oh I see. Non-interactive patient-initiated messages. Looks like Medicare doesn’t pay for it. Thank you.