My benefits are requiring me to use Transcarent...
After finding out that I am required to use Transcarent for a spinal surgery, I called and gave my info to their coordinator. When they asked if I had a current spinal surgeon, I gave them his name. Ok, great. Everything seemed to be going fine.
Three days later, I find out that my surgeon is not in *their* in-network list (my surgeon is in-network in my main benefits). "They didn't tell you this when you did your first check in with the coordinator? Sorry, our bad."
They said they'd send a "list" of spinal surgeons "in my area". When I got the list it was on 2 surgeon: one was over 300 miles away (in LA) and one 100+ miles away. Ok, semi-easy choice - the one 100+ miles away. So I chose that doctor although the logistics of getting the surgery there was problematic. Fortunately, the surgery is out-patient so it would be more of an inconvenience.
Then I was told that that doctor was not taking on new patients. "I know you're disappointed but I'll have our group send you a another list." Ok, fine. When I got the list there were 9 (!) surgeons on the list only about 25 miles away. I wondered why that team just didn't send me that list in the first place. The hassle of going through the first two wasted many days.
Also, in researching of the list of 9 surgeons they gave me in the second round, only 3 of them had any spinal-specific surgical experience. The rest were orthopedic surgeons but their profiles online didn't have anything related to specifically doing spinal surgery. One of them was just a sports medicine practitioner with zero surgical experience.
Ok, so I did research and chose one. I was told that he is taking new patients. And so here I wait for a call from their office. I cannot call them - everything has to go through Transcarent. It's like Transcarent is a black box - I get nothing except what they choose to give me. It's very frustrating.
UPDATE’09/25/2026:
So…the surgeon I chose says “I don’t take your benefits”. What? You’re a Transcarent vetted surgeon and you don’t take those benefits??!!
Ok, onto the next one. One detail though. I was offered a waiver about two weeks ago. This would allow me to use the surgeon of my choice. The only catch, my main benefits would have to cover the surgery while the Transcarent surgery would essentially be free. That’s right. Free.
Well, sometimes “free” isn’t the best option. So I called and asked if the waiver offer was still legitimate (it was), so I opted for it. Even though it’ll be several thousand dollars (with my main benefits), the peace of mind of having my trusted spinal surgeon doing the procedure is worth it.
Since then, my stress level that was high because of my Transcarent experience has pretty much gone away. I’ve got a surgery date already scheduled and my spinal surgeon was thrilled that I was able to escape Transcarent.
10 de setembro de 2026
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