Hyperbaric treatments and insurance

Bill_Litchfield
Bill_Litchfield Member Posts: 19
in Head and Neck Cancer #1

Hi all,

On recommendation from my dentist and treatment team I had all my teeth extracted back in February before commencing treatment. I am now almost six months out of treatment and doing well. My new normal is not here yet, taste buds are still out of wack, dry mouth is still almost 100% and the no teeth thing is hampering getting back into solid food big time.

I have some bone protruding through my gums which the dentist says will need to be dealt with before any sort of dentures would be a real option. The radiation oncologist has said that after my re-staging PET/CT on Nov 4 he is happy for us to start down the path to dentures but wants hyperbaric therapy used before and after any bone work, no matter how minor.

What experience have people had with the insurance companies when it comes to HB therapy and payment. Is it a dental or medical treatment? Do medical insurance companys pay for HB. Does it have to be ordered by an MD or can the dentist order it and it be covered medically. I don't believe there is a dental insurance policy anywhere that would cover the expence.

Any advice would be appreciated.

p.s. I plan to 'check-in' on Roll Call after Nov 4 with my first NED ... ding ding

Comments

  • SASH
    SASH Member Posts: 421 Member
    edited October 2016 #2
    HBO and Insurance

    I went through this last year in order to get implants.  Since this was related to a medical condition mine was all covered by my medical insurance.  The best thing to do is check with your insurance and the facility that you will deal with.  My insurance would cover 2 locations near me, so I went with the one that I felt most comfortable with, but I'm sure the other would have been fine. but  You will probably need a prescription for the Hyperbaric Center.  Mine came from the maxilary surgeon who did my procedures.  Obviously, there was a portion that I had to pay, but that was based upon my insurance.  Had to meet my deductible and then my co-insurance, but once that was met, my insurance covered 100% of not only the HBO but the surgery to place the implant posts.

  • Bill_Litchfield
    Bill_Litchfield Member Posts: 19
    #3
    Thanks for the advice

    Sash, I appreciate your response and advice. I will get myself a referral from my radiation oncologist and go from there. Payment won't be an issue. I maxed my out-of-pockets within two weeks of diagnosis and before I even started treatment so my insurer should cover 100%. Interesting that you got implant posts. Can I ask how many you got. The decision to remove my teeth was medical but my insurer would not cover the extraction costs. It would be good if I could get posts for anchoring at least the bottom denture as understand it is the hardest to keep in place and with minimal saliva it could be evern harder. If I could do something like I guess I would have to get the surgeon and the dentist coordinating to get things right. I still don't know a lot about the denture thing. Been waiting for the healing to finish and my radiation oncologist to give me the go ahead.

  • SASH
    SASH Member Posts: 421 Member
    #4
    Implants

    I have 4 posts, all in the front of the lower jaw.  There was too much bone loss in the rest of the jaw.  The maxillary surgeons, one who did the implant posts, and the one that actually made the implant both accept my medical insurance and are part of the hospital system that did my cancer treatments.  So that made it easier to get things covered.  The only thing that wasn't covered was the extractions and the actual permanent posts.  Most of the extractions were done by my dentist, but the last 4 were done in surgery when they did the post insertions and they also smoothed my jaw to make an even platform for the implants. 

  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #5
    HBO

     

    Just about any time you do anything to your gums or teeth you might be required to do 10 dives of HBO. I have about 50 dives behind me now and it was very expensive, if I am right the last 10 dives I did was a little over 20 thousand.

     

     

     

    I sometime wonder if it really helped or if it was just another way of milking my insurance for more money. Guess I will never know.

     

     

     

    Thanks

     

    Tim

     

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