S. O. S. – SPEAKING OF SENIORS
NO HELP WITH OXYGEN BILL
By Woodrow Wilcox
Medicare did not help pay for the portable oxygen bill of a couple from Saint John, Indiana. The couple visited me twice to get my help.
On the first visit, the clients showed me what paperwork they had. Medicare had sent to them forms to be completed because no medical service provider had filed a claim with Medicare for them. During
that visit, they just wanted me to look over the papers to make sure
that they had followed the instructions and had not misunderstood
something. So, I helped them as they requested.
On the second visit, they showed me both Medicare’s response and all the paperwork. I
thought that it was strange that the response letter from Medicare
instructed the couple to get a doctor’s signature, and some other
strange things, in order for Medicare to consider reimbursing the couple
for a Federal Express bill.
So,
with the couple, I phoned Medicare to get to the heart of their medical
bill problem and get an answer as quickly as possible. We did get answers, but not the answers that the couple had hoped to get.
Here are the facts. The elderly couple flew to Colorado to visit some grandchildren and other family. While in Colorado, they became very ill and were admitted to a hospital. They were released from the hospital when they were well enough to fly home. But, they needed oxygen while they flew back to Chicago.
The
couple rented portable oxygen equipment for the flight and paid to have
the rented equipment returned to the equipment provider. The total bill for the equipment and the return shipping was almost $900.
In the phone call to Medicare, the couple learned what I suspected. Medicare does help pay for oxygen in certain circumstances, but not a temporary rental for air travel.
As
I have said in the past, I have a good record of helping senior
citizens with Medicare related medical bill problems when the problems
are caused by mistakes. But, I can’t help a client if the problem is caused by a government policy. It was a government policy that caused this couple’s medical bill problem.
Note: Woodrow Wilcox is the senior medical bill case worker at Senior Care Insurance Services in Merrillville, Indiana. He
has helped clients of that insurance agency save over one million
dollars by correcting medical bill errors that were caused by mistakes
in the Medicare system. His new book SOLVING MEDICARE PROBLEM$ (www.solvingmedicareproblems.com) explains how to help senior citizens with such medical bill problems.
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Word count of body of article is 414.
Written on March 13, 2013 by
Woodrow Wilcox
Wilcox News Service
P. O. Box 744
Griffith, IN 46319
