Doctor Refuses to Help Me

I have been fighting with my Gastroenterologist, his affiliated hospital and my insurance company and they all have me backed into a corner.

I take vitamin B12 shots once a month.  My doctor's nurse administer's the shot and the hospital they are associated with bills my insurance.

My company changed insurance companies effective Feb. 1.  So, the hospital has started billing my new insurance company for my monthly B12 shot.  When I got the bill from my doctor for the shot, I was billed $82.  That's pretty steep!  I called my insurance company to ask why the did not pay out the claim.  They advised because the hospital coded it as an outpatient service and they would only pay for it if it was administered in an office setting.  It is truly being done in a doctor's office.  The hospital is across town.  The doctor's office is the next block over from where I work. So, the doctor's office is a whole separate entitity entirely.

So, I call the hospital that does the billing for my doctor.  Their billing department flat out refuses to change the coding.  My insurance company has offered to appeal to the hospital and is sending me the paperwork to sign to get the process starting.  But it is so rare that these appeals ever work out in the patient's favor.

I tried to think outside the box so I called the doctor directly and requested that he teach me how to administer the B12 shot myself or have my husband do it.  He refuses to do that.  Instead, he is putting me back on the nasal B12 which does not work for me.  He knows this.  I was hospitalized in 2009 due to my hemoglobin registering at a 7!  I had to get 4 pints of blood to bring it up to normal.  All this while I was on the nasal spray.  But the doctor insists and says he will test my blood in 6 months to see if it was working.  I got him to agree to test it at 3 months because it only took 6 months on the nasal spray to land me in the hospital.

I do not know why I cannot get my doctor to agree to allow me to administer the B12 shot to myself.  My father does it and there are a lot of crohn's patients that do it as well.  What is the big deal?

I would hate to change doctors because of this but I see that I might have to.

Has anyone been in this situation before?  Should I continue to fight with the hospital and my insurance company?  Or should I give up and take my chances with the nasal B12?  I just want to stay healthy and not end up in the hospital again.

I am missing the part of my intestin that absorbs iron from food. So, I was put on Vitamin B12 shots. The B12 allows my body to make the red blood cells that carry which contains hemoglobin. Without the B12, my become anemic and my iron (hemoglobin) level completely tanks. It takes about 4 to 6 months before I start to realize it. I usually end up with brain fog and walking 50 feet exhausts me. The doctor calls it B12 Deficiency Anemia.

There are lots of clinics that offer pretty cheap vitamin-B12 shots. There's a clinic around the corner from me that charges $20 for a vitamin-B12 shot. I have no idea if it is equivalent to the ones you get or not. Perhaps you could find out?

I second that your GI is being an ass, and you need a new GI if he can't help you get what you need.

PV

What about just going to your GP. I would think that he would prescribe the B12 so that you could do it yourself, or have his nurse do it in the office.

Yup, my family doctor had me come in for his nurse to administer my B12 shot and I was only charged $8. And each time I saw my family doctor he encouraged me to learn to give my own B12 shots. When I finally got up enough courage to agree to do so his nurse emptied the syringe she had filled, left the room and returned w/a syringe w/a much shorter, thinner needle, showed me how to fill they syringe and administer the shot myself - w/that much shorter, thinner needle than "they" use to administer the shot. SHEESH! Piece of cake!

Well ......

Once I gave myself my first shot the second one and all the rest were a piece of cake. Seeing the shorter, thinner needle made it somewhat easier for me to tackle that first shot but it wasn't the easiest thing I'd ever talked myself into doing - until I did it.

My doctor scripts a vial of B12 that I keep at home and only have to fill .... I forget how often, once a year or maybe it is every 6 months or so. It lasts a long time at the dose I've been instructed to take.

Hi I would find a new doctor one with a better manners whom
will help you and not a pain in your bottom.

I wound up finding a new GI in part because the clinic where I saw him was doing a similar thing. They always charged a hospital fee in addition to the doctor's fee. Sometimes I only had my copay and other times it was a crazy charge. I am much happier with my new GI and the clinic doesn't do any shady charges.

Good luck if you decide to switch. It's tough making that decision and trying to find one you like, but I think the financial aspect is important too!