posted
Here's the deal. My friend lives in one state and sees a LLND in another state. Her insurance won't pay for placing the line in our state because the LLND isn't licensed here.
Her insurance won't pay in the state where the LLND is licensed because she is on Medicaid.
So today she tried to have a PICC line placed in clinic. The nurse couldn't get it. Tried 3 times. Had to pay for it anyway out of pocket. The nurse supposedly is very ecperienced in doing PICC lines and has never had this happen.
So now she has a months worth of meds and no line to infuse them into. This just seems so crazy! There has to be a way for her to get a central line or port or picc placed and get the insurance to cover it.
There are no docs in this state who will write the order.
Ideas? She is ready to give up. I don't want to see her do that. Anyone have any ideas?
Posts: 333 | From Lyme Here Too | Registered: Mar 2010
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posted
I am pretty sure that medicaid or medicare want orders written from a physician in the same state you live in.
I just went through something like that but it was an order for oxygen and I had to see a local doctor who took medicare to write the prescription as they would not take my out of state orders from my LLMD.
I would call medicare and speak to a representative there to see what the fix might be.
-------------------- Faithful
Just sharing my experience, I am not a doctor. Posts: 2682 | From Colorado | Registered: Oct 2009
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beaches
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 38251
posted
Would medicaid pay for an interventional radiologist to place the picc?
Posts: 1885 | From here | Registered: Jul 2012
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Razzle
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posted
PM sent...
-------------------- -Razzle Lyme IgM IGeneX Pos. 18+++, 23-25+, 30++, 31+, 34++, 39 IND, 83-93 IND; IgG IGeneX Neg. 30+, 39 IND; Mayo/CDC Pos. IgM 23+, 39+; IgG Mayo/CDC Neg. band 41+; Bart. (clinical dx; Fry Labs neg. for all coinfections), sx >30 yrs. Posts: 4166 | From WA | Registered: Feb 2011
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poppy
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posted
Don't know if this would work either, but there are shorter term alternatives to PICC.
Posts: 2888 | From USA | Registered: Mar 2004
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Razzle
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 30398
posted
Good point, Poppy. Maybe she could try IM injections instead of infusions?
Or go in and get a peripheral IV placed every few days, if the abx she has are safe for peripheral infusion...
-------------------- -Razzle Lyme IgM IGeneX Pos. 18+++, 23-25+, 30++, 31+, 34++, 39 IND, 83-93 IND; IgG IGeneX Neg. 30+, 39 IND; Mayo/CDC Pos. IgM 23+, 39+; IgG Mayo/CDC Neg. band 41+; Bart. (clinical dx; Fry Labs neg. for all coinfections), sx >30 yrs. Posts: 4166 | From WA | Registered: Feb 2011
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beths
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 18864
posted
I had to get a Dr in my state to write order for PICC. fortunately my PC did. My friend got a sympathetic Dr at a urgent care place to write order.
Posts: 1276 | From maryland | Registered: Jan 2009
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posted
The picc line mess with the nurse sounds exactly like what I went through about 3 years ago.
I was ready to get a picc line in at doctor's office and the nurse said she had 25 years of experience putting picc lines in successfuly; however, that was not so in my case.
She tried 4 times to put that picc line in my vein and it hurt like hell each time, she moved from the first arm to the second and wasn't successful there either.
By the end of the appt my arms hurt and she was ready to move to the vein in my hand. At this point I said no thank you.
I took it as a sign from God that this is not what I should do since I had prayed about it the whole week before. A
fterwards, when I told her to forget it, the doctor came back in and was ****ed that I wasted the iv meds that he had ordered for me.
I felt berated and like a bad child. I left that doctor and never looked back.
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