Casa Grande, Arizona (3TV/CBS 5) — When doctors prescribe drugs, patients expect to receive them in a timely manner, perhaps the same day or the next day. It should be a similar process for medical devices. But for many who rely on that equipment, it will take much longer, especially for those living outside the Silicon Valley metro. I am afraid that I am sexually
Many health insurers operating under Medicare and Medicaid in Arizona have lost several of their in-network providers of medical devices. Some people don’t. That leads to months of waiting time.
“They are sorely needed,” said Joe Moore, a resident of Casa Grande. He sent a video of him in and out of bed to a family investigation in Arizona. This daily job that most of us take for granted is a challenge for the 75-year-old paraplegic, as he calls himself. “The way you get into bed should be with the Hoyer lift, not the slide board, because the slide board doesn’t always slide,” he said.
Joe said his doctor prescribed a fully automatic lift to help him get in and out of bed in March. But that’s not what his Preferred Homecare, a medical equipment provider, provided, he said. “It puts a lot of pressure on me,” said Joe’s wife, Mary Moore.
Joe was injured 10 years ago while loading hay on his horse at his home in Maricopa. They soon moved to Casa Grande. I hope he’s mobile: “At one time he’d been sent prescriptions for the same drug by two doctors and still wouldn’t give it,” she says. .
Arizona’s Family Investigates asked Joe what the ordeal of receiving the wrong equipment was like. “It’s frustrating, especially when they decide to send the equipment they want me to bring here and I’m on the phone telling them not to send it,” Joe said. Arizona’s Medicaid agency, the Arizona Healthcare Cost Containment System, said Preferred Homecare charged $24 for its wrong lift in November. The company also delivered the wrong mattress, Joe said. AHCCCS has confirmed that it has denied the allegations. Months later, the wrong mattress is gathering dust at Joe’s house.
Joe is still waiting in his chair, making it easier for him to use the bathroom.
Coolidge Mayor John Thompson said residents came to him with concerns. His son-in-law and his parents-in-law also rely on similar devices, which he said meant “all because neither of them could move around.” It wasn’t as serious as some of the issues we had,” he added.
These medical devices are called durable medical devices or DMEs. A doctor prescribed it and she is supposed to give birth in a few days. That was not the case for Joe and at least five of his other neighbors in Pinal County, Arizona family investigators have heard.
Medicare and insurers operating under AHCCCS have lost most of their DME providers, according to industry sources. Preferred Homecare, owned by multinational corporation Linde plc, is one of the largest DME providers in the country and he is one of the few remaining providers. Preferred HomeCare declined a request for an interview, but said in a statement: Thank you for your understanding. ”
Bob Warda recognized the need for this community. He opened Sonora Medical Supplies last year with his business partner.
Arizona’s Family Investigates asked if he had applied to network with these health insurance companies. “All of them, and all of them, are closed to newcomers. They say their data shows that the area is well served,” he said Warda. said Mr. “It created a monopoly and shut down all the networks so no one could get in.” He said his company was the only one in the state that had the mattress Joe needed. said he had to wait months before his insurance company cleared Sonoran Medical Supplies for delivery in July. Mr Warda said he was still waiting for payment and wanted to help people who go to him. explained.
Arizona’s family investigative team contacted the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a federal agency that works with the state to implement insurance programs. They wrote that patients “may be limited in their choice of providers within the network, because providers must be in-network with both Medicare Advantage and Medicaid plans.” .
“It was a tough fight,” Joe said. “Frustration with dealing with insurance companies because they didn’t give me what I needed, not just my body.”
Warda said he has reached out to state and federal lawmakers, but so far nothing has changed.
An Arizona family investigative team contacted the office of Senator Kirsten Cinema. Communications experts said they were aware of the problem and encouraged her family in need to contact her office. Here is the email: Casework@sinema.senate.gov
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