Re: PVI insurance

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Posted by Mike Ware on January 03, 2003 at 08:47:35:

In Reply to: PVI insurance posted by Lowell Rottrup on January 02, 2003 at 22:44:58:

Lowell, find out what catheter they are going to use on you. They used the newer 8mm one on me which is apparently FDA approved for one side of the heart but not the other. I think CC is getting close to collecting enough data on the 8mm tip to get it approved for both sides. Dr Natale tried the ultrasonic catheter and had poor results from what I have read. I believed he has abandoned it.

The 4mm, cooled tip catheter has been widely used around the world for ablations. I would have to believe it is FDA approved. However, Dr Natale's initial results with the 8mm indicates that it cuts the time to do ablations from 8 hours to 4 hours, and the results are better so far.

You should talk to Dr Natale directly or call Michelle Williams-Andrews, his clinical nurse, and let them know what is going on and see if they can give you more data to fight your case. Michelle gave me lots of detailed information concerning research data, etc.

My PVI bill ran over $50K. Of course, the pre-negotiated rate that my insurance company pays is way less. Some of my charges for the hospital stay are being questioned by my insurance company. However, they didn't seem to have any problems with paying the PVI procedure charges per se which seemed to be reasonable to me. I expect my insurance company is questioning the $21K for miscellaneous hospital supplies on my bill. Hey, that's a whole lot of tissue and toilet paper for one night!! If you are going to pay for everything yourself, you should at least try to pre-negotiate rates comparable to what insurance companies pay. Those rates are often a small fraction of what the doctors and hospitals list as their standard rates.

I will send you an email with my phone numbers. Give me a call for more discussion. I know you are anxious to be cured. You definitely shouldn't have cold feet about getting the PVI, however, if waiting a few more months to get the insurance straightened out beforehand would pay all the bills, that's something to think about.

Hang in there, M.

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