Health care maze: Retired teacher tells how dispute has affected her medical care

Published: Thursday, March 5, 2015 at 05:19 PM.

Ann Lancaster of Boiling Springs doesnt understand the disagreement between United HealthCare and Carolinas HealthCare System.

But 83-year-old Lancaster, a retired schoolteacher, does know that since she switched to United HealthCare she has paid more up front costs, and if she gets sick and has to go to Carolinas HealthCare System Cleveland, her insurance wouldnt be accepted.

That would bother me if I couldnt get care at Cleveland, Lancaster said.

Helping her navigate the insurance and health care maze is her cousin and power of attorney, Kitty Hoyle.

Cant find a doctor

Since Lancaster fell last fall and spent time in the hospital and a nursing home, Hoyle has tried to find her a primary care doctor who has hospital privileges.

I cant find a doctor, Hoyle said. No doctor will call back, and when they find out what kind of insurance she has, they dont want to take it.

Lancaster is back home now under the care of the nursing home doctor, but Hoyle also worries what would happen if she had to go back to the hospital.

She needs a doctor who has privileges at the hospital who has continuity of care they know me and know her, Hoyle said. It is shameful that this retired teacher cant find a primary care doctor in the county she served for 42 years.

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Health care maze: Retired teacher tells how dispute has affected her medical care

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