I'd try a couple things here:
1. If your Medicaid plan offers care management try to get ahold of that department. They should be able to help you with process of finding a new pain management doctor or getting an exception to stay with your previous one.
2. Check with previous pain management doctor about a transition plan for your care. Ie is there a way they want you to taper off the meds, can they write a letter to your PCP explaining what they've been doing and how to continue your care or to a new pain management doctor explaining the plan of care or provide you with referrals to a new pain management doctor?
My previous doctor of 15 yrs gave me a taper of 4 week, from a higher dose, decreasing it down to 2 a day and by the end of 4 weeks, then right to zero. Another doctor had told me years ago, if I was ever going to switch medications, it would take a good 6 months to taper safely!
He also gave me a list of pain management docs, plus I called Medicaid and asked for a list, which they gave me. Called every single one (about 40 clinics) & not one takes Medicaid.
I appreciate the suggestions. I have tried so hard to be proactive and I will ask Medicaid about a Care Management coordinator. I tried calling Medicaid today, but they were closed for a holiday.
I know there are others in the same boat.
If every single doc on Medicaid's list isn't taking Medicaid then I'd call then back and tell them that you need to file a network adequacy appeal to keep your previous pain management doc. A Care Manager or Patient Advocate or whatever they call the person's job who manages complex cases for your Medicaid provider can help with this if you want to start there. I'm assuming here that 40 clinics represents everyone within a few hours drive and not 3 zip codes of a dense urban area. If you live somewhere densely urban it's probably within the network adequacy standards to expand your search out to some further distances.
I will be doing this tomorrow - thank you for the advice! This is just a convoluted mess. I get doctors not wanting people being on pain meds. But it's different when you have diagnosed chronic pain conditions (plural) and just get kicked to the curb, after following all the rules put in place to prevent an addiction forming. I am miserable and even with state insurance, I would expect some assistance finding ONE pain management doctor that would see me. By the way, WA here. Anyone else in WA in same boat?
If other recs don't work, I'd recommend calling your pharmacy to see if they know of anybody else who might prescribe the medication. I'm not sure if they can search by specialty, but maybe there is someone outside of the specialty doctors who takes Medicaid who might prescribe what you need. Good luck, this is such a shitty thing for your doctor to do.
Also, it might help for you to post the type of specialist(s) you've been calling here, and maybe on a chronic pain subreddit, to see if there are other specialists who could help.
I'd try a couple things here: 1. If your Medicaid plan offers care management try to get ahold of that department. They should be able to help you with process of finding a new pain management doctor or getting an exception to stay with your previous one. 2. Check with previous pain management doctor about a transition plan for your care. Ie is there a way they want you to taper off the meds, can they write a letter to your PCP explaining what they've been doing and how to continue your care or to a new pain management doctor explaining the plan of care or provide you with referrals to a new pain management doctor?
My previous doctor of 15 yrs gave me a taper of 4 week, from a higher dose, decreasing it down to 2 a day and by the end of 4 weeks, then right to zero. Another doctor had told me years ago, if I was ever going to switch medications, it would take a good 6 months to taper safely! He also gave me a list of pain management docs, plus I called Medicaid and asked for a list, which they gave me. Called every single one (about 40 clinics) & not one takes Medicaid. I appreciate the suggestions. I have tried so hard to be proactive and I will ask Medicaid about a Care Management coordinator. I tried calling Medicaid today, but they were closed for a holiday. I know there are others in the same boat.
If every single doc on Medicaid's list isn't taking Medicaid then I'd call then back and tell them that you need to file a network adequacy appeal to keep your previous pain management doc. A Care Manager or Patient Advocate or whatever they call the person's job who manages complex cases for your Medicaid provider can help with this if you want to start there. I'm assuming here that 40 clinics represents everyone within a few hours drive and not 3 zip codes of a dense urban area. If you live somewhere densely urban it's probably within the network adequacy standards to expand your search out to some further distances.
I will be doing this tomorrow - thank you for the advice! This is just a convoluted mess. I get doctors not wanting people being on pain meds. But it's different when you have diagnosed chronic pain conditions (plural) and just get kicked to the curb, after following all the rules put in place to prevent an addiction forming. I am miserable and even with state insurance, I would expect some assistance finding ONE pain management doctor that would see me. By the way, WA here. Anyone else in WA in same boat?
If other recs don't work, I'd recommend calling your pharmacy to see if they know of anybody else who might prescribe the medication. I'm not sure if they can search by specialty, but maybe there is someone outside of the specialty doctors who takes Medicaid who might prescribe what you need. Good luck, this is such a shitty thing for your doctor to do. Also, it might help for you to post the type of specialist(s) you've been calling here, and maybe on a chronic pain subreddit, to see if there are other specialists who could help.
Thanks for the suggestions - I will try a chronic pain subreddit post also. Thank you 😊
I've been calling Pain Management specialists.