Info Desk [Paperwork, ordering, wait times, procedures, booklets, prescriptions...]

Keith Gonzalez said:The order has to be placed within three months. Also, there's the actual date they'll put the order in to consider. 😁

No, you actually have to get that order in within a month. I think it used to be three, but now they've tightened it up to just one month.

Wait, just one again? Are you absolutely certain about that? It was three just a month ago!

fadedbear92 said:Actually, you have to place your order within a single month. It might have been a three-month window in the past, but currently, they've tightened it down to just one month.

You're absolutely right; I completely missed the mark on that one.

federalregister.gov/documents/2023/example-link.pdf

That table is outdated.
Orders should probably be placed within 90 days of the prescription being issued, I suppose.

Since I've been running tests for the last two months, it's getting annoying—every time I get my referral issued, they tell me it's only good for a month. Honestly, your best bet is probably just calling the clinic directly to ask.
As for this thing in the e-manual, I had no idea it even existed—so we should most likely follow those guidelines.

I came across this article—it might clear up some of the confusion you guys were having

You might even find some answers here; I honestly don't have the energy to dig through everything right now:

Generally speaking, the referral is valid for 90 days at full coverage.

Edit: here is the official notice from Medicare.

Every news outlet and newspaper was reporting that the new policy means they're valid for 90 days. I actually went to fill a prescription recently using a 12-month referral, and nobody mentioned a thing about them being invalid.

Where are you all getting this idea that they only last a month now? There hasn't been a single word in the news about another change, and if there were, it would be posted somewhere.

melloworca6 said:The news and all the papers were saying that in the new system, things are valid for 90 days. I actually just placed an order recently using a 12-month referral, and nobody mentioned anything about it being invalid.

Where are you guys getting this idea that it's only good for a month again? I haven't seen a single word anywhere suggesting another change—they'd have to announce something like that somewhere.

That sounds like total nonsense to me—I'll definitely ask her, and if that's actually the case, well...

I’m planning on asking my sister about it this week, anyway I have to head over to the Community Health Center to get some blood work done.

As is often the case with old traditions, every organization tends to develop its own unique interpretation of the rules. This certainly isn't anything new when it comes to how Medicare operates. 😬

So, we are looking at a duration of three months.

Does this rule only apply to centralized scheduling, or does it count if we just walk into the Community Health Center (or call them up) and ask to be put on the list manually? I heard that if you do it the second way, it’s only good for a month, but honestly, everyone seems to have a different story 😬

I'm trying to call my local clinic right now to check with the nurse, but nobody is picking up. 🙂

edit: Okay, finally got through to the nurse. I explained that I have a referral from December and that the immunology clinic called me last week to set an appointment for next week. I asked her if my current referral still works or if I need to grab a new one, and she told me that a new one is valid for 90 days and mine is perfectly fine. If that nurse is lying to me, then I'm lying to all of you.

Sure, but here’s what people consistently fail to grasp:

That referral remains valid for ordering for 90 days, even if your actual appointment isn't until six months from now.
So, if I get my referral on February 1st, book the appointment on April 15th, and end up with a date on September 20th—everything is perfectly fine.

That’s how it’s always worked. You had a month to get scheduled—which they just extended to three months anyway—and once you're in the system, that referral stays valid until your appointment, regardless of when that screening actually happens. I think the absolute limit is a year tops.

I double-checked this with my doctor—turns out she was right. The referral is actually valid for 90 days, not just the 30-day window people usually assume when booking appointments.

I sent an order via this link: along with the required referral attachments. It's been three or four days now without a single response, and there isn't anything showing up in the NASA portal either. Is the system actually working right now? How long am I supposed to be waiting?

It was the weekend, after all. Just hang tight. Expect an email response within two days or so.

Dammit, sent it off on Friday and still haven't heard a peep today.

I got my referral for an appointment at Johns Hopkins Hospital back in March.
The two phone numbers they gave for central scheduling just don't pick up.
You have to email a photo of the referral instead.
So, I sent it off.
They scheduled me for September of this year.
Now I’m reading that these referrals actually expire after three months.

You aren't reading carefully enough. It takes three months to get on the schedule, but once you're in, the appointment holds.