Hello! I am wondering if health insurance paid for your cardiac clrearance testing at drexel. I know there are three or four tests done but since many insurances, if not all, consider dr. schwartzman's ketamine infusions experimental, do they pay for cardiac clearance to have the infusions? i believe the tests are ekg, tilt table test and so on. I would hate to have them done to discover that they are not paid for by my insurance. what was your experience? i know all insurances are different but please tell me how it went fo ryou.

many thanks. i wish you all a wonderful day with no pain or very little pain!!!!
sincerely
jane

Hello Jane....

Actually if I may..I'd like to elaborate on your inquiry and say is there anyone out there who is familiar with not only cardac workup AND how about any procedural (inc. having the Ketamine treatment and boosters) where the ninsurance company give the thumbs up and when it is all said and done..thay renig on paying?????? That scares the blue mud outta me and if so that may make or break ones decision to move forward with the treatment... hopefully thats if you find out before they do it...

You can call your insurance and ask them... they will tell you if they will pay for the tests even though they won't pay for the Ketamine procedure. I'm guessing you may likely have to have them pre-approved any way.

Abasaki.... I have called and yes..do-able as far as they say then but I have heard that AFTER the procedure has been done ..they backpedal on paying!!!!! Anyone else heard that before???

Thxs for your reply tho...Ab... have a great night..

No prob... just my two cents worth based on results with insurance...

You may try to get them to put the pre-approval into writing... my insurance does this... the doc sends for pre-approval and both he and I get copies of the decision.

Once it's in writing it's going to be very hard if not impossible for them to back peddle.

Hope you find the answers you are looking for...
Again... just my two cents worth here.


Abbie

Hi Abbie...your two cents are worth a million..thanks...! I will go that route should it come to that...I hope you have a wonderful day...

KS

Dear Jane,
I am a patient of Dr. S. and I have had all the clearances done. I have been waiting for Ketamine for three years now and NOW the workers comp ins has decided to hault the treatment. I believe they are doing everything in their will not to pay for treatment. I don't know how they sleep at night. As described above I would definately get something written by the ins co BEFORE moving ahead with any clearances or the Ketamine treatment. This way you cover yourself. I don't trust ins co's one bit. You need to protect yourself always with them.

Dr. S office said once I get approval from the ins co they will make me the next person to get the treatment. I have been in court and will go again soon hopefully to fight for the treatments. Just my two cents.
Take care and good luck.
kathy d.
P.S. the tilt table test was bad. I like to refer to it as the tilt torture test. I passed out at the end of it (which they want you to do) and they had a hard time waking me up. What was the first thing I thought of????? I wonder if the RSD went away cause my brain was rebooted. haha.

My cardiac clearance for Getson's ketamine treatment was paid for by my personal insurance, while my injury is WC. I used my personal insurance at the urging of my WC attorney, who told me that WC doesn't have to pay for everything related to my case.

The testing consisted of an initial appt with a cardiac doc, and a follow-up appt with her asst. during which I needed to pass a stress test on a treadmill. The stress test only lasted about 15 minutes or so, they started the treadmill out slow and at the end it was at an uphill slant and I was running at a medium pace for about a minute. They needed to get my heartrate up to 145 beats per minute (I think I'm remembering the number right) for at least a minute or so. The entire time they had me hooked up to a cardiac monitor and measured my pulse and BP. The biggest problem for me is my pulse and BP - they have been high lately because my head pain levels have been really high since my lidocaine infusion wore off last week. (I had a lidocaine infusion on Dec 23 - combined with Fentanyl .75 mcg, I was about 50% painfree for about 1.5 - 2 weeks). My BP and pulse actually went down once I started moving.

I didn't have to do a tilt table test - thank goodness. That sounds awful!!

XOXOX Sandy

Thank you all for the info! I appreciate it!

Keep /smilin: I think a saw post somewhere in the site where a member called "Hopeful" said that her insurance paid or treatment buy now they are demanding their money back. How can they be so awful?

Sandy:Where did you get the lidocaine infusions? Maybe I could get that. If I see dr. Getson I hope he does not make me do the stress test because I can't walk but for a few seconds. Thanks for the info!

Kathy: Sorry to hear the table test was so painful!!!!

Hi to everybody else, I have been sitting for too long and I have to go because i am in pain now.

best of lucks.

jane