@awfultruth. Thank you for adding your experience and knowledge! I'm going to take your advice and plug in my diagnostic and procedure codes to Claude AI which I've used the most. Will compare to ChatGPT which I've not used. These are the codes my doctor is using: CPT cod 770809 and diagnostic code M81.6.

I thought I knew what I would be paying out of pocket for my Dexa but realized that may not have included any additional fees from radiology. I think most of the interpretation is done by the software but could be wrong about that. In any case, I figured the hospital would be adding another charge to the Dexa. I was right about that and turns out the person who quoted me about $320 did not give me accurate information. The hospital only discounts the scan if you pay in advance. Including the "reading" fee it is about $1205 billed to insurance or you can pay $422 in advance.

I wish that Northwestern would apply the same discount if Medicare rejects the claim but the hospital says no. You must make a choice to pay the discounted price in advance or roll the dice with Medicare. If Medicare won't pay, you will owe the amount billed to Medicare (Medicare's coverage is close to the amount billed).

You can't get an answer from Medicare about coverage even providing the diagnostic and procedure codes. Nor can you get an answer from Northwestern despite the fact I know their billing department has billed Medicare many times using the same diagnostic and procedure codes and knows if they work.

Thank you again!

p.s. also good to know you are using the free versions of AI.