Getting ready to go to the vet and the phone rings

It’s the home health care nurse and Mike picks up the phone. We were told yesterday at OHSU that they are using a new wrap on Mike’s legs and it only comes off during his once a week visits with them. No more daily bandage changes (yeah!) No need for a home health care nurse to come here either. Mike had called them to let them know they didn’t need to visit us every few days as planned. The nurse was apologetic (on the phone) she said the powers to be had told her to call us and see if they can come out five more times “for their billing!” They have only been out here once to interview us and check out Mike’s leg. Medicare won’t pay for one visit, they will pay for five visits.

Mike told her he didn’t wish to add to the medicare fraud that is so rampant and for now, they just needed to stay home. Am I stunned? No, I have seen so much medicare overbilling and waste since he has been diagnosed with Diabetes. It just makes me sad that the level of care depends on how much money the billing department can gather.

2 thoughts on “Getting ready to go to the vet and the phone rings

  1. Good Lord. We have government health care for many things here in Canada, and I’ve never heard of such a thing as that. I’m sure it goes on, but no health care provider would be so open about it. Good for Mike.

  2. Yippee! Good for you and Mike for standing up to medicare fraud. They pulled the same thing on my mother. We felt forced into it the first time as it was all so new to us. After that, never more! At one point I even had to threaten to change the practice she goes to in order to get them to stop shoving home nursing down our throats. Cripes! She’s 90 years old and hasn’t worked since WW II, and they want to send somebody out to do occupational therapy! She still walks on her own and takes care of her personal needs and they want to send somebody out to do physical therapy! Glad you stood up to them, we do now! P.S., her only ailments are COPD and CHF, you can’t fix it or therapy it away.

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