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My mom can't walk, doctor's don't know why
Autoimmune Diseases | Last Active: Aug 28 9:19pm | Replies (60)Comment receiving replies
It may depend on type of Medicare insurance and location. Medicare coverage can be confusing, there are so many types of Medicare plans.
Few facts on Medicare and Mayo. Each Mayo locations has different policies on insurance they take. So Rochester, AZ and FL differ on if accept original Medicare or Medicare Advantage policies, so you need to check with location your considering and your mom's insurance policy.
Mayo's page on insurance has more info but does not provide enough detail to answer your questions, it is vague on on what each location will accept:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/patient-visitor-guide/billing-insurance/insurance
I am not as familiar about referrals and insurance. If the Mayo location does not take your mom's insurance (you're not in network) sometimes the insurance company make exceptions if provider refers the patient to a specialist that the in-network clinic can not provide.
When you call to make an appointment at Mayo, they will ask about insurance and advice you. If the location does not take your mom's insurance, you can ask if provider does the referral if makes difference.
If your mom has a Medicare Advantage plan, you can call the insurance company ask those questions.
How are you doing being caretaker and having to handle all this?
I was primary person when my mom was sick, and it takes a toll. Make sure your taking care of yourself.
Replies to "@msgolfnut It may depend on type of Medicare insurance and location. Medicare coverage can be confusing,..."
Mayo in Florida sends a letter around Sept every year, and it says YES we take original Medicare with a secondary insurance plan (like AARP or United Healthcare) but they do not take Medicare Advantage Plans.
Plus once you have a Mayo patient ID number, I’ve always been able to make my own appointments.
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You responded to someone else on the thread but I assume you were asking me.
It's been difficult. I'm trying to keep faith and being positive for her sake, but I cry every night, but crying helps me.
The doctor here thinks he's found the answer. Sleep apnea. Her carbon dioxide was very high.
We've suspected that she has had it for quite a while because she snores and is a bit overweight. But I'm not sure if sleep apnea can suddenly do all of this. Unless there's another part of it that we haven't found. But mom is going to a rehab today and they will give her oxygen each night and we can see if it helps. If not, the doctor wants her to come back.
Mom has never wanted to use a CPAP at night. That's like her worst nightmare. Now she has to if she wants to walk again, according to the doctor. So seeing her depressed and crying over this new development is hard. But there are alternatives to the CPAP if it does fix her. There's a device called inspire which is a mask-less device. So hopefully she can qualify for it. This also is our wakeup call to buckle down and lose weight.