Frustrations
Let me start off by saying that I’m grateful to have health insurance. I pay about $80 per month for coverage for just myself, which is a good deal. But…
ARGH!
I have about $2100 in medical expenses happening right now. I’ve known about these expenses for a few months — in time to figure them into my flexible spending plan, in fact. My insurance pre-approved them up to 50% after my deductible, and my flexible spending plan told me that the expenses qualified for reimbursement. All was well with the world, or so I thought.
Until I began incurring the expenses. Then the claims came back denied from my insurance. Flexible spending was still reimbursing me though, so at least that part was ok. But then I got a letter from them too, stating that the most recent claim was denied. How could it be denied?!
I’m sure things will get straightened out, but it’s so incredibly frustrating. At least I AM getting the treatment that I need, because I’m able to pay for it out of pocket. The doctor is working with me too, which I’m grateful for.
But what if I couldn’t pay? An emergency room sure wouldn’t treat me for this. Or what if I had something more debilitating and was unable to send forms & write letters to try to get this straightened out? What if I was uninformed or easily confused? What if I was at the mercy of strangers in some office somewhere, unable to get the treatment that I need just because they said “sorry, we don’t cover that”?
I feel sorry for people in those situations. (And not very long ago at all, I would have BEEN in one of those situations.)
People deserve to get the treatment they need, without a lot of rigmarole and additional worry. Even if they don’t have the money. I guess you can put me firmly in the camp of “health care should be a right for all people”.
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May 4th, 2008 at 7:58 am
ug I’m sorry. I recently had a claim denied too because of a paperwork mistake, but it was just a regular drs appointment so it wasn’t the end of the world. I imagine this is a very stressful situation. A person shouldn’t have to deal with medical problems and bad customer service at the same time!
May 4th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
I’m so sorry that you are having to deal with this! It’s such a pain. I hope the treatment is working and that you are 100% very soon!
May 4th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Hi. I wanted to drop in and tell you how much I have enjoyed reading your blog this afternoon. I subscribe to lots of money/frugality blogs and have actually thought about starting my own due to the issues I have with most of them. I enjoyed yours because of several factors: I don’t know, after reading every entry well into last year, what your religion is. Every other entry is not a list of other blogs’ entries (these things can get so incestuous!). Likewise, you mention some “carnivals,” but don’t harp on them. You haven’t endlessly re-hashed top 10 money-saving/cleaning/whatsit tips. You aren’t a high-roller, but you are doing some things that I am looking into with stocks, etc.
I have really enjoyed reading this afternoon, and I wanted to let you know that.