Sasha
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Everyone’s favorite villain in healthcare is the insurance company. Greedy premiums, endless denials, a customer service line that feels like purgatory. You get it. You know the villains of that particular story. But let’s take a detour for a minute. Let’s talk about Medicaid. The so-called hero of the working poor, the elderly, and the…
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Once upon a time, in 1974, a little company called Charter Med was born in Minnesota. Picture it: medical providers and hospitals trying to organize better care and save money. It looked noble. By 1977, they had renamed themselves UnitedHealthcare Corporation and introduced something called utilization review. On paper, it was a safeguard to make…
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” Hi, everyone! I’m 6 months pregnant with twins and homeschooling a toddler, baking sourdough bread, and my husband works 70 hours a week. I’ve always felt a calling from God to be in healthcare, healing others through the revenue cycle. Can someone train me for free so I can start working remotely?” If Laura…
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Every morning, like clockwork, Sasha logs into one of the 100 medical billing Facebook groups she follows, and every morning, the timeline serves a fresh casserole of craziness, desperation, and delusion. “Hi, ladies! I’m 8 months pregnant, homeschooling my five kids, and my husband works 16-hour shifts. I just enrolled in a $100 medical billing…
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You just left your oncologist’s office. You’re terrified. They found something suspicious on your scan, maybe it’s a new mass, maybe your tumor markers are rising. Your doctor wants a PET scan immediately to see if the cancer has spread. You need answers now. But first, your case gets shipped off to some faceless reviewer…
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There’s an unspoken rule in medical offices, especially those that operate as if it were still 1994, and if Mr. Ed Brown is over a certain age, you’re supposed to excuse everything. Rude behavior? “Oh, he’s just old and cranky.” Inappropriate sexual comments? “That’s just how he jokes.” Screaming at the front desk staff? “He’s…
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Jack Smith is back again. This time for a cardiology visit. Doc ordered an echocardiogram (CPT 93306). UHC Medicare Advantage plan in hand, he sat in the waiting room flipping through a 2018 issue of *Better Homes & Gardens,* blissfully unaware that behind the front desk, Jill was staring at her monitor like it had…
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Let me tell you about someone who died because our healthcare system worked exactly as it was designed. He lived in a rural western state and worked hard his entire life. He didn’t have health insurance, not because he didn’t want it, but because he fell into that special trap where you make just enough…
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Ever wonder why a simple checkup costs more than your car payment? Let’s talk about facility fees. So you took your kid for a simple checkup. Nothing urgent, just the usual “let’s make sure they’re growing” visit. You paid your copay, thought you were done, and went home feeling like a responsible parent. Then a…
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You thought Jack was done? You thought his insurance verification saga ended with that triple AARP card trauma and a mild case of claim rejection rage? Please. Jack Smith is back in the building, and this time he’s rolling deep with a plot twist that front desk Jill wasn’t ready for. Last time, he had…