Medicaid (Spend Down Card)???

I have Medicare and get Medicaid (Spend Down Card) to help pay for the 20% Medicare does not cover.  Does any one else have/receive Medicaid (Spend Down Card).  The difference between a regular Medicaid and a Spend Down is that with regular Medicaid - the doctors/hospitals etc... can charge at the moment -- with a Medicaid (Spend Down Card) the doctors/hospitals etc... have to wait until I receive the billing statements from them and the billing statements from Medicare saying how much they paid.  Then you take all the paper work to your welfare worker and get it processed.  It  can take up to 6 months past before you receive your Spend Down Card.  That is the only drawl back the waiting period.

If any body has any information on this subject please, let me know.  I have received my informational packet from Dr. John Husted office and I am in the process of filling it out.  I am so excited, I can't wait until they become an Center of Excellence so, I can proceed with my plans to have a revision.

Thanks again for any information and have a wonderful day!

GIA

Years ago I could get a spin down, can't anymore, but I found that mot doctors want to be paid prior to the surgery.  Mine was also I didn't know if I would get a spin down or not.  Never sure if I would have enough for one.  I don't know about Dr. Husted but my part of the bill for my surgeon was very small and I have Medicare. 

Jacqueline

Well first let me say that there are programs fairly close to you that are already Centers of Excellence that can and will take your Medicare assignment and work with the Medicaid/Spend Down Card for the remainder.  Have you thought about the Bariatric Center at Georgetown Community Hospital?  It is a designated Center of Excellence with a very capable and qualified surgeon.

This is going to sound dumb because I don't know crap about insurance, but is a spend down card almost like how we put money into our health savings account? Only you don't have to put it on out of your pocket it is placed on the spend down card through medicaid/medicare.
I know absolutely nothing about insurance in fact I didn't realize until Tuesday that we had to different co-pays one for regular appointments and one for specialists well every time I have taken myself or our  daughter Mollie to the regular doctor I had been paying the specialty co-pay until my husband Patrick looked at the last statement from Mollie's pediatrician said umm honey why are you paying $40 every time Mollie goes to the doctor and I said because that's the co-pay he said did you even look at the last statement we have like a $400 credit I said oh well I guess that's why they look at me so funny every time I give them my check card.

Georgetown hospital is already a Center of Excellence and Dr. Sonnanstine is pretty awesome so is the rest of his staff. They have an incredible program and the support system there is unbeatable. I think if you live a bit away they also try to group your pre-surgery qualifying appointments together. I wouldn't quote me on that I thought I heard that somewhere.

Here's their phone number 502-867-3303
He is located in the medical office building next door to the hospital .

Good luck with everything.

Wendy

 Hi there Gia,

It is my understanding a spend down card will cover medical tests, or old medical bills. I'm not sure if it actually will cover a part of surgery costs or not. I know Ellen @ Dr. Husted's office will know for sure. She is great!!

You are picking the very best surgeon to perform your revision. He has done literally hundreds of them. If I am ever able to get insurance coverage again, he will be the only surgeon I trust to do my revision from RNY to Duodenal Switch.

I wish you the very best of luck w/ your surgery. Have you been to a seminar yet? Those are great. Dr. Husted will answer any and all questions you have. Again it is my opinion you've made a great choice in going w/ Dr. Husted. Revision surgeries are always riskier and you want a skilled surgeon. 

Take care & if you have any questions don't hesitate to get in touch with me.
-Katrina

I second everything Katrina said. You are a smart cookie for using Dr. Husted. He will be worth the wait for COE, and you will have the best surgery available.

To answer your question, my mom had bariatric surgery several years ago while she was on Medicare, no Medicaid. When she got her bills from surgery, she did apply for and receive a spend down card to cover the 20% that she owed.

Hope this helps.