Abbott Patient Assistance Program Form

Usually there is a one or maybe a two-page form. I don't think they are that difficult to fill out. They copy my insurance card and that's it. Generally they include a brief list of history questions and current symptom questions. If it is a current doctor, only the current symptom questions. As I am not the one with the medical degree, I hope they use those answers to put two and two together in case my sore throat, indigestion, headache or fever is part of a bigger picture of something more seriously wrong. The HIPAA form is long to read, but you only need to do that once (although you'll be expected to sign the release each time you see a new doctor or visit a new clinic or hospital).

There are many (many) reasons - so I'll list a few of the ones that I can think of off-hand.Here in the U.S. - we have a multi-party system: Provider-Payer-Patient (unlike other countries that have either a single payer - or universal coverage - or both). Given all the competing interests - at various times - incentives are often mis-aligned around the sharing of actual patient dataThose mis-aligned incentives have not, historically, focused on patient-centered solutions.  That's starting to change - but slowly - and only fairly recently.Small practices are the proverbial "last mile" in healthcare - so many are still paper basedThere are still tens/hundreds of thousands of small practices (1-9 docs) - and a lot of healthcare is still delivered through the small practice demographicThere are many types of specialties - and practice types - and they have different needs around patient data (an optometrist's needs are different from a dentist - which is different from a cardiologist)Both sides of the equation - doctors and patients - are very mobile (we move, change employers - doctors move, change practices) - and there is no "centralized" data store with each persons digitized health information.As we move and age - and unless we have a chronic condition - our health data can become relatively obsolete - fairly quickly (lab results from a year ago are of limited use today)Most of us (in terms of the population as a whole) are only infrequent users of the healthcare system more broadly (cold, flu, stomach, UTI etc....). In other words, we're pretty healthy, so issues around healthcare (and it's use) is a lower priorityThere is a signNow loss of productivity when a practice moves from paper to electronic health records (thus the government "stimulus" funding - which is working - but still a long way to go)The penalties for PHI data bsignNow under HIPAA are signNow - so there has been a reluctance/fear to rely on electronic data.  This is also why the vast majority of data bsignNowes are paper-based (typically USPS)This is why solutions like Google Health - and Revolution Health before them - failed - and closed completely (as in please remove your data - the service will no longer be available)All of which are contributing factors to why the U.S. Healthcare System looks like this:===============Chart Source: Mary Meeker - USA, Inc. (2011) - link here:http://www.kpcb.com/insights/usa...

Medicaid patients would never be expected to pay their own bills. That defeats the purpose of providing this program as a resource to the aid of those who are below the poverty level. Legally, if you signed paperwork to the effect that you agree to pay whatever your insurance won't, there may be an issue.The larger question aside, technically, the professionally can set his fees at whatever level the market will allow. His time spent to complete your form would have been otherwise spent productively. The fact that he is the gatekeeper to your disability benefits should amount to some value with which you are able to accept rewarding him (or her).The doctor’s office needs to find a billable reason to submit (or re-submit) the claim as part of your medical treatment to Medicaid. It is absolutely a normal responsibility of their billing office to find a way to get insurance to reimburse. The failure is theirs, and turning the bill over to you would be ridiculous.If they accept Medicaid to begin with, they have to deal with the government’s complex processes to get paid. Generally, when a claim is denied a new reason to justify the doctor patient interaction will be necessary. I would guess “encounter for administrative reason” was sent. It is often too vague to justify payment. They may need to include the diagnosis behind your medical disability. If they have seen you before, and medical claims have bern accepted on those visits, then a resubmission for timely follow-up on those conditions could be justifued as reason for payment. The fact is, Medicaid is in a huge free-fall and payments are coming much more slowly since the new year. $800 billion is planned to be cut and possibly $600 billion on top of that. When we call their phone line for assistance, wait times are over two hours, if any one even answers. Expect less offices to accept new Medicaid, and many will be dismissing their Medicaid clients. If the office closes due to poor financial decisions, they can be of no service to anyone.Sister, things are rough all over.