Saving people from melanoma
one patient at a time
Insurance: Industry Overview
Insurance plans and coverage has changed dramatically over the past 30 years. In the 1970’s, health insurance provided for the vast majority of your medical expenses at little or no cost to you. Your premiums were typically paid by your employer. Today, health insurance primarily shields you against bankruptcy or catastrophic financial loss, but passes along many costs that were previously covered. And in many cases you must also pay the premiums...
There are many reasons for these changes. Most blame the insurers who they believe are more interested in profits than providing good care. Some believe it’s our politician’s fault for not taking a more active stand in providing coverage for anyone who needs it. Others blame the world economy and the fact that other countries have government funded health insurance benefits, thereby forcing our companies to cut back on our benefits to remain competitive. The last group blame the medical community themselves for engraining a treatment system that does not hold the patient accountable for bad health choices.
The list of reasons is as varied as the people you speak with. Whatever the reason, the reality of modern day health care insurance is this:
You will have to pay for medical care, drugs and procedures not covered by the specific benefits level of your plan. In most cases, you will pay for common sense measures that would have been covered 25 years ago.
In the following pages you will find valuable information addressing health insurance reimbursement issues for Total Body Photography. Reimbursement has consistently risen since the American Medical Association issued a category one CPT code for TBP in January of 2007 - but it is not universal. You must research your provider’s stance on this issue and ultimately decide for yourself.
DigitalDerm believes you should have a clear picture of the facts when deciding whether to have a MoleMapCD done or not. We know many issues come into play when making this decision: your medical condition, how involved you want to become and probably most importantly – can I afford it.
This is not an easy choice in some case, but be assured of one fact: DigitalDerm believes the MoleMapCD is a vital part in early melanoma detection. It is economically priced and was designed to be used by you: the person most likely to first detect a melanoma!
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