[Babubhat]

Originally Posted by hosegooseman

How much time you need to be here in order to complaint?

More of the same. Thank goodness for the block list

[DonnaNi4os]

Originally Posted by Carol@TV

I do not recommend Premiere Medical Associates! I was charged two co-payments to see Dr. Luis Alvarado in Lady Lake (no exam - just a consultation and then a second one to go over lab work), and then he never followed through with sending in my prescriptions. I called three times to ask about my prescriptions and they never got back to me and now I can't get my co-payments refunded. I ended up having to see another doctor before my prescriptions expired. I've called Premiere Medical Associates asking about refunding the charges, but they insist they were for services rendered. The two 2 minute appointments (which gained me nothing) were an expensive learning experience! I should have had some warning when they required me to make a second appointment just to go over lab work (with all labs in the "normal" range). I've never had a doctor require me to make an appointment to go over normal results. They are in it for the money.

You state that he went over your lab work. Although you may not consider that worthy of a fee, it certainly qualifies. Unless he advertised that there were free consultations he deserves to be paid for the consult no matter how brief.

[gatorbill1]

Originally Posted by geobar

,
A Doctor is entitled to charge you two times for 2 visits. Double billing is definitely a different story. A good Doctor will fill your prescription with a phone call.
.
Believe your warning should have been that you need to make a Co-Pay on every visit.
Perhaps your plan is working against your medical needs.
.
You most likely have a lower-cost plan such as a "Medicare Advantage Plan" which is for people who do not need a lot of medical services of course at a lowermonthly cost with Co-Pays. Remember that as we get older our medical needs do increase as do the
time and costs.
.
Remember you get what you pay for.
.
A Medicare Advantage Plan is for people who need virtually no services at monthly cost savings most with a Co-Pay increasing your monthly costs.
.
A Medicare Supplement Plan depending on the plan covers virtually all you medical expenses and at a higher monthly cost with no out-of-pocket Co-Pays.
.
We both have had a Medicare Supplement plan for about 14 years and never needed to make a Co-Pay to anyone. Nor do we need a pre-approval to see any Specialist.
.
Found this article for you to read:
"There are so many different plans and insurance companies, but first you need to know that there are two plan types – Medicare Supplement also known as Medigap, and Medicare Advantage. Once you know which type of plan you prefer, then you can look further into the specific plans under that category type to narrow your choices down to one or two plan options that should work for you".

Most advantage plans do not charge for primary care visit. I believe he had original medicare and paid the 20% not covered. A supplement plan is a choice made by someone who pays monthly premiums to cover these co pays, with an advantage plan, again no co-pay on primary care.

[WiscoGirl]

Originally Posted by Carol@TV

I do not recommend Premiere Medical Associates! I was charged two co-payments to see Dr. Luis Alvarado in Lady Lake (no exam - just a consultation and then a second one to go over lab work), and then he never followed through with sending in my prescriptions. I called three times to ask about my prescriptions and they never got back to me and now I can't get my co-payments refunded. I ended up having to see another doctor before my prescriptions expired. I've called Premiere Medical Associates asking about refunding the charges, but they insist they were for services rendered. The two 2 minute appointments (which gained me nothing) were an expensive learning experience! I should have had some warning when they required me to make a second appointment just to go over lab work (with all labs in the "normal" range). I've never had a doctor require me to make an appointment to go over normal results. They are in it for the money.

Nobody works for free. That's what a slave is. Nobody wants to be a slave. Don't leave any doctor's office without your prescriptions in hand. Doctors are human beings and they make mistakes. It's a practice. They're practicing medicine & they are human. Don't rely upon human beings, regardless of who they are & what they do, to be free from err. We all err as we all sin. Others could have a perfectly fine experience at this doctor's office. It's wrong to complain here about an individual. That's slander or liable, and they could now sue you over it. (Not that they will, but now they could.) Be careful what you say. The tongue is mightier than the sword! You make mistakes, too. You've left things undone. You are not perfect either. Give grace & you will receive it. Be kind in all ways & you will receive kindness! God bless you.

[nancyre]

Sorry but if you take an appointment you owe the co-pay. You can review the results yourself in their portal. You could have them call if there are any issues. Perscriptions not sent in that is another issue.

[Carol@TV]

Originally Posted by WiscoGirl

Nobody works for free. That's what a slave is. Nobody wants to be a slave. Don't leave any doctor's office without your prescriptions in hand. Doctors are human beings and they make mistakes. It's a practice. They're practicing medicine & they are human. Don't rely upon human beings, regardless of who they are & what they do, to be free from err. We all err as we all sin. Others could have a perfectly fine experience at this doctor's office. It's wrong to complain here about an individual. That's slander or liable, and they could now sue you over it. (Not that they will, but now they could.) Be careful what you say. The tongue is mightier than the sword! You make mistakes, too. You've left things undone. You are not perfect either. Give grace & you will receive it. Be kind in all ways & you will receive kindness! God bless you.

I made no complaints about the doctor himself, other than he failed to send in my prescription. I don't think it is right that they (Premiere) couldn't reach the doctor (even after they made three attempts to reach him) to have my prescription sent in and I ended up having to contact another doctor to get my prescriptions filled. My experience in the last few years has been that few practices give you a written prescription - but I will certainly try to obtain one in the future. Premiere considers it "services rendered", but I don't. But if someone has a doctor they love at Premiere Medical, they should certainly keep going there. I won't be back.

[dougawhite]

Originally Posted by geobar

,

A Medicare Advantage Plan is for people who need virtually no services at monthly cost savings most with a Co-Pay increasing your monthly costs.
.
A Medicare Supplement Plan depending on the plan covers virtually all you medical expenses and at a higher monthly cost with no out-of-pocket Co-Pays.
.
We both have had a Medicare Supplement plan for about 14 years and never needed to make a Co-Pay to anyone. Nor do we need a pre-approval to see any Specialist.

So instead of reasonable co-pays when you need to see a specialist on an Advantage plan you have paid about $73,800 over 24 years for your fabulous Supplement plan, whether you ssw Specialists or not!

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by DonnaNi4os

You state that he went over your lab work. Although you may not consider that worthy of a fee, it certainly qualifies. Unless he advertised that there were free consultations he deserves to be paid for the consult no matter how brief.

Maybe the doctor is technically allowed to charge her for a 2 minute lab report discussion, but she is technically allowed to get another doctor and another insurance plan. Personally, I would prefer it if the US had a national healthcare system and insurance did not own the doctors and the system.

[Carol@TV]

Yes they are technically allowed to charge me two co-pays for my two visits, but the purpose of ordering the labs was to determine my medication dosage. My issue is they didn't follow through with the prescription despite charging me for going over my lab report. I have no problem with my current insurance. I moved here from another state where I wasn't required to make an appointment to review normal lab results. But based on other's responses, it may be standard practice here.

[Carlsondm]

Originally Posted by Carol@TV

I do not recommend Premiere Medical Associates! I was charged two co-payments to see Dr. Luis Alvarado in Lady Lake (no exam - just a consultation and then a second one to go over lab work), and then he never followed through with sending in my prescriptions. I called three times to ask about my prescriptions and they never got back to me and now I can't get my co-payments refunded. I ended up having to see another doctor before my prescriptions expired. I've called Premiere Medical Associates asking about refunding the charges, but they insist they were for services rendered. The two 2 minute appointments (which gained me nothing) were an expensive learning experience! I should have had some warning when they required me to make a second appointment just to go over lab work (with all labs in the "normal" range). I've never had a doctor require me to make an appointment to go over normal results. They are in it for the money.

I ran into a doctor at Premier Medical who was proud of recent promotions because he made his quota. Seemed strange at the time. I changed physicians.
I learned that PMA uses a call service that may be in India or other places outside of the USA. My experience with the call service during daytime hours was pretty bad. They told me that my doctor might be too busy to call back (Dr never got the message), they gave me medical advice..bad medical advice, and they told me I could not go to PMA urgent care that night. Had I known they were foreigners, we would have hightailed it up to PMA Urgent care. In a crisis, this call service could have caused a disaster.
I talked to my doctor and office supervisor and I was told there was nothing they could do. There is something strange going on in PMA. We developed a way to get around the switchboard to solve our problem.

[Toddy]

Big mistake. Stay away far away.

[ThirdOfFive]

Originally Posted by Carlsondm

I ran into a doctor at Premier Medical who was proud of recent promotions because he made his quota. Seemed strange at the time. I changed physicians.
I learned that PMA uses a call service that may be in India or other places outside of the USA. My experience with the call service during daytime hours was pretty bad. They told me that my doctor might be too busy to call back (Dr never got the message), they gave me medical advice..bad medical advice, and they told me I could not go to PMA urgent care that night. Had I known they were foreigners, we would have hightailed it up to PMA Urgent care. In a crisis, this call service could have caused a disaster.
I talked to my doctor and office supervisor and I was told there was nothing they could do. There is something strange going on in PMA. We developed a way to get around the switchboard to solve our problem.

Bahamas, I think. But I agree...bad! Rather than deal with offshore incompetents I just go to Premier (I live only 3 miles away) and deal with the incompetents there in person.

[bob47]

Originally Posted by DonnaNi4os

You state that he went over your lab work. Although you may not consider that worthy of a fee, it certainly qualifies. Unless he advertised that there were free consultations he deserves to be paid for the consult no matter how brief.

Ridiculous. Just a way to milk Medicare.

My primary care doctor, who just retired, would simply have his nurse call us with news like: Your labs are good and no changes; Your ??? is a little low but it's not a concern; Your ??? is too high and we're increasing your xxx to yyy.

Had a colonoscopy once about 20 years ago and had to have a followup appointment so the doctor could tell me: Everything is good. See you in 5 years. 5 years later I went to a different doctor.

[rmd2]

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

Maybe the doctor is technically allowed to charge her for a 2 minute lab report discussion, but she is technically allowed to get another doctor and another insurance plan. Personally, I would prefer it if the US had a national healthcare system and insurance did not own the doctors and the system.

A national healthcare system would owned by the government and it would be worse. I worked in heath care and have seen people from other countries who were under their government health care system coming to the US for health care they could not get in their country. An example is a 6 month waiting period for getting a biopsy vs 2 days in the US and also surgical procedures that wouldn't even be done in their country. One person I remember came to our facility was a medical doctor from England. Another patient was from Saudi.

[Holpat39]

Fortunately we've had great experiences with both The Village Health and United Health of the Villages. Cannot find one thing wrong with the doctors or the insurance company.