Any of You Faced Hysterectomy with Medicare Only?

I was wondering if any of you faced having a hysterectomy carrying only regular Medicare insurance?


Do you all know if they kick Medicare only folks out of the hospital early?


Or cut back on necessary care or pain relief?


How bad will the bills be after this is all over, compared to, say, having typical private insurance?


For most of my life, I've carried good private insurance. Well, up until about two years before I had the dumb luck of being diagnosed with this possible uterine cancer thing.


Now, I'm as worried about the financial issues as I am my upcoming surgery.

You can call the hospital and ask for an estimate. I don't believe Medicare can deny you proper treatment. I do know that Medicare covers a certain amount of hospitilizations per year, so that should be covered.
Also, not every hospital does this, but when the bills start coming in, you can ask about a charity care program through the hospital. If they do something like this, they will want some financial information, but can be well worth asking about and filling out the application if needed. If they do participate and you are eligible it can sometimes cover 100% of your remaining hospital bill after insurance has paid.
I don't know your financial standings, but you may also consider applying for Medicaid if you have ongoing medical problems and a limited supply of income. I am not a fan of abusing the system, but if you need it it can be a lifesaver.

(((HUGS)))) to you, hoping you can try to relax a little bit before your surgery.

	Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyHen I was wondering if any of you faced having a hysterectomy carrying only regular Medicare insurance? Do you all know if they kick Medicare only folks out of the hospital early? Or cut back on necessary care or pain relief? How bad will the bills be after this is all over, compared to, say, having typical private insurance? For most of my life, I've carried good private insurance. Well, up until about two years before I had the dumb luck of being diagnosed with this possible uterine cancer thing. Now, I'm as worried about the financial issues as I am my upcoming surgery.

Ok this might help ...I just had a TAH here in Arizona my family and i have what you would consider i guess medicare it is call ACCCHS and is for lowincome people so far no bills ... they covered the whole thing. The reality is i had a great hospital the best nurses on the planet as far as im concerned and i stayed three days which is in the the normal range. I too was petrified about all that! As a matter of fact i was so worried i looked into the policies and they had some hoops to jump through as far as procedures for younger women ... and we were prepared to borrow the money for the procedure if we had to from family we knew could afford to loan that much money. Everything went fine the usual stay is around 2-5days depending dont know what procedure you are having but im sure it is medically necessary so dont worry hon. You shouldnt have any problems as a matter of fact just ask the nurse surgery scheduler as she is usually the one who does all the insurance stuff she will put your mind at ease !!!Hugs to you hang in there. The waiting is the worst part before hand the gas pains after LOL. You have all of us sisters so you are in good hands I love this site it has been such a comfort you will see.

A lot of the time hospitals keep people 3 days when they are on Medicare and the stay is justified because you need a 3 day stay to justify admission for rehab. Medicare A pays 100% of hospitalization I'm nearly sure. If not it pays 80% and Part B pays 80% of the 20% remaining. I never had the impression patients were facing huge bills from the hospital but were more worried about rehab (100 days/year, 100% for 20 days, remainder at 80% with Part B paying another 80%; you probably don't need that).

If you call the hospital and talk to a financial counselor (NOT just someone in billing) they can talk you through it and any other programs you may be eligible for.

I am on SSDI but not Medicare eligible for 17 months. I just had my hysterectomy 9/10 and it was entirely paid for by a program the hospital has for low income situations.