How join support group ?

@collegeprof
Just an aside….
I very much wanted to go to Mayo but, when checking insurance coverage, found out that Mayo doesn’t take Medicare Advantage Plans.
Of course, I am among the elderly population, but plans for younger people have their limits too.
It is best to know before you go rather than after.
Good luck with your health care needs!

@kaka50 you are right to check insurance coverage, plans and acceptability before pursuing treatment at any facility. I frequently find that topic to be confusing and overwhelming. Mayo has a department with staff that can help pave the way to answer questions and explain options. I think it is through the social services department. I haven’t needed or received any treatment in quite a while. I am 69 years old and have made some changes in past years to my insurance so I should look into this myself. Thankfully joining Mayo Clinic Connect itself and participating in groups and discussions is free! There are members from all over the world who have never been actual patients at Mayo.

@kaka50 I live in MN and have a Medicare Advantage Plan which has covered appts in Nephrology and Hypertension at the Mayo Clinic since 2023. I have a video appt next Friday. I asked about video appts when I noticed that the only things he and my local nephrologist do are listen to my heart and lungs and discuss my CKD. Driving to Rochester in the winter can be treacherous. I have five appts this month to have my heart and lungs heard. That happens four times a year.

My nephrologist at Mayo also arranged for me to have a Dual Scan CT to confirm a pseudogout diagnosis. That diagnosis was a prerequisite for being seen in my local HMO's Rheumatology Department (where gout and pseudogout are treated) but the staff didn't know where that Scan is available. He also made it possible for me to be seen in Infectious Diseases when I had a secondary infection during covid that persisted afterwards.

I should probably say that I think it's possible that one of the reasons that I was given an appt with that particular nephrologist is that he led an international team to find patients like me who have Immunotactoid Glomerulopathy (ITG) and had published on ITG. I am one of about 100 known patients and one of only about 10 who have the idiopathic variation.

I called Nephrology and Hypertension directly to get started with appts after I called Blue Cross to ask about coverage. Perhaps my coverage area (I'm in the Twin Cities) is different from yours.

@mnsansei
Interesting. I was directly told by accounting that Advantage Plans are not accepted at Mayo.

Wow! I have an appt at the Rochester MN Mayo Clinic on Wednesday so I checked coverage at bluecrossmn.com and found that my nephrologist at Mayo is in my network. (Image attached.) I wonder if you live elsewhere. I have friends in WI with BCBS whose network does not include the Rochester Clinic. I think they go to one in Lacrosse.

Here's the phone number I use to reach Nephrology and Hypertension: 507 284-9991. I have found the staff to be very kind and helpful.

I don't know that I have ever spoken to anyone in accounting.

My HMO has connections to Mayo. When my HMO nephrologist was working on a diagnosis of my disorder, the kidney biopsy was, of course, first analyzed by the HMO's lab. They were unable to do an analysis because of the lack of a reagent so they sent it to the Hennepin County Medical Center. HCMC didn't have the reagent either so that lab sent it to Nephrology and Hypertension Dept in Rochester.

Since then, I reached out the Mayo N and H Dept to ask for an appt with the Mayo nephrologist who had published on the disorder his colleague in the pathology lab had discovered, ITG. That was in 2022. It took a while to get an appt but I think he accepted my request because as far as I can determine, there may only be 10 known persons worldwide who have the same idiopathic ITG I have. I have access to online medical journals through the library at Macalester College where I used to teach.

I started doing in-person appts but now I have video appts. Dr. Leung arranges for a lab test kit to be shipped to me. I take the kit to my local HMO lab where Mayo faxes the lab orders. The local lab folks collect the specimens and send them (I think by Fedex) in pre-addresses boxes. It's great not to make two trips to Rochester, one to the lab and one for the appt, four times a year.

Good luck.