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Pancreas and spleen removal: how is life afterwards?
Pancreatic Cancer | Last Active: Dec 19, 2023 | Replies (42)Comment receiving replies
Hello ashley2235,
You mentioned before that you had surgery at the Mayo Clinic? in Rochester, yet your home base is Kaiser? If not too personal, I was wondering insurance wise, how you were able to do that? Did you have to pay for the surgery out-of-pocket as Kaiser is basically an HMO? I'm wondering since this is the period when we all can make changes to our insurance for the upcoming year and my husband really wants me to go to Mayo Clinic if it's discovered its come back. Right now I have Blue Shield HMO.
So happy for your outcome! I have 2 relatives who went to Mayo Clinic (Rochester and Scottsdale), and they received treatment that was exemplary (though none of it was for pancreatic ca).
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I have Kaiser HMO in Georgia. It took roughly 4 months of fighting, but I was eventually approved for Mayo. I did not have to pay out of pocket. Basically, I had to had to be seen by an in-network surgical oncologist first. That MD declared he was unable to perform the surgery, and he referred me to Mayo. Kaiser told me they have a working relationship with Mayo, so it was approved. Several people had told me that legally your insurance provider cannot deny coverage for services not available within your network. Meaning, once the in-network surgical oncologist said he was unable to perform surgery, that Kaiser was obligated to cover the procedure at an outside facility.