Paperwork doesn’t bother me. Perverse, I know but there it is. I like making sure that every ”I” is dotted and every “T” is crossed. This ability to track every detail provides a sense of accomplishment, especially now. These types of little accomplishments are now what I strive for everyday. It is a means of keeping myself focused. After working at an exhausting pace while parenting and living life to the fullest, I find that I am irritatingly limited and occasionally desperately bored while my body continually reminds me that I am not physically capable of doing a quarter of what I used to.
What is a bright but bored girl to do? She wages war on her insurance company, that’s what. Okay, war is perhaps a bit strong but then again, when each interaction is a battle and planning your care coverage requires the strategic skills of both General Patton and Viceroy Mountbatten you can see how the analogy might come to mind.
Lest you think this is going to become a political diatribe I will now set you at ease – my particular battle has nothing to do with the current state of American politics. My particular story will not help solve the for-profit\not-for-profit argument that is alive in the halls of the Congress and the Senate at this time. Maybe it will be someday but that is not the topic for today. Today, it is all about those “I”s and “T”s I mentioned earlier.
A quick bit of history – until July, 2010 I had the type of health insurance most people only dream about. I could see any physician I wanted – it was covered. Want to work with a naturopath? Covered. Need expensive medical hardware? Covered. Weight-loss surgery? Covered. In full. For four years, I did not have a single co-pay for doctor’s appointments or medication. I could see who I wanted, when I wanted and follow-up with any treatment recommendation I chose to follow. When you are chronically ill, this is a special type of nirvana. All was well in my medical insurance magical kingdom but things were not so rosy for the man providing this coverage (a.k.a. My Husband).
The job that allowed him to provide this amazing medical magic was draining the life and soul out of my once energetic and thoughtful spouse. Work hours got longer, bosses got more critical and projects that had once inspired him disappeared with the worsening economy. As his company strategized and re-strategized the role for his department, people began to leave like the proverbial rats from the sinking ship. He wanted to go and he tried many options but all led back to the same place – lousy healthcare plans. Increased salaries and bonus structures sounded as though they would make it all worthwhile until we started counting the cost of co-pays, prescriptions and non-preferred provider charges. $18,000 out of pocket here, $22,000 there. And yes, I am well acquainted with the tax-credits for medical expenses. We were taking that into consideration in our counting. For those of you who are healthy, I would now like you to bow down and kiss the genetic gods who have blessed you.
Alright, off your knees already, there will be more to feel grateful for later.
Husband found a new job at a place he liked. As I predicted, they loved him. He started working on his new dream and my medical pie-in-the-sky existence came crashing down. I was prepared for some of it but five 3.5” binders full of paperwork later and I’m not so sure I did enough expenditure calculating.
Five months into this new insurance plan and the company is just now getting around to sending out bills and reimbursing physicians. I’m on a first name basis with several medical billing firms around the country. I have a tab for every physician billing department, notes about who I talked to, when I talked to them and VERY specific details about what they said. The insurance company themselves have their own special binder with similar sets of notes. I have first and last names, phone numbers, extensions, dates, times and every scrap of paper is cataloged.
In all honesty, I’ve dealt with crappy medical insurance for most of my life. However, I am no longer willing to accept that what they say is gospel. I’ve seen exceptions made where they swore there were none. I’ve had hundreds of dollars of medical bills wiped off my accounts because of billing errors. I have a goal - I need to get healthier. I’m really good at paperwork. More importantly, I have the time to become stronger. In the words of John Paul Jones, that hero of the American Revolution, I have only begun to fight.
No comments:
Post a Comment