 Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: May 2002 Posts: 2,152 | I see no reason for an insurance company to be additionally reimbursed for oral cancer exam which takes a few minutes and does not include the Velscope and is being done as part of a periodontal, normal cleaning or other procedure, however my insurance does. My prosthodontist charges $35 for it, my periodontist doesn't charge anything.
AND as Colleen points out, many of these guys don't recognize cancer when it is staring them in the face and now we want to pay them extra for misdiagnosis(sorry Jerry, not you). However, if the dentist is putting out $5000 for the device, I do think the exam should be covered by insurance and the dentist should charge for it. I think my dental insurance is overly generous covering an extra oral exam charge. Too bad they aren't on anything else. Wonder what they pay for Velscope exams?
Take care,
Eileen
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Aug 1997 unknown primary, Stage III
mets to 1 lymph node in neck; rt ND, 36 XRT rad
Aug 2001 tiny tumor on larynx, Stage I total laryngectomy; left ND
June 5, 2010 dx early stage breast cancer
June 9, 2011 SCC 1.5 cm hypo pharynx, 70% P-16 positive, no mets, Stage I
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