[Sable99]

I was new to Medicare in August. And, in August, I saw my doctor and had labs done at our local hospital here in Michigan.

Both the doctor and the hospital told me that they have found that things changed in July. They both said that if Medicare denied a claim that the secondary insurances are now automatically denying the claims.

The hospital also told me that my standing lab is no longer being paid by either Medicare or BC/BS Standard. The hospital actually told me how the doctor should write up the labs so they would be paid! These were just standard labs -- nothing special.

I asked them why I'm paying for a secondary insurance if they are also going to deny the claim. They both told me to stick it out to open season and then decide what to do.

I did talk to a counselor at Michigan's Department of Aging. She agreed that secondary insurances are now automatically denying claims. But, she thought I should stick with Medicare and have BC/BS Standard as a secondary.

Well, open season is here and I still don't know what to do!