Health Insurance Woes

I'm going to let you in on the kicker to this story here at the beginning; my health insurance isn't just paid for by my place of work but provided by them as well. That's right, all the annoyance that I've had to deal with when it comes to insurance and medical issues is all being run by someone sitting across the hall from me. It adds a special kind of insult to the whole problem.

The story itself actually starts quite some time ago. It took almost a year to reach full fruition. One problem led to another, symptoms surfaced and disappeared, and I got shuffled between doctor to doctor, each one believing the problem would be better solved by someone of a different specialty ignoring the fact that someone else had said the same thing and that was how I got to see that person.

So it was with that the final round of testing that the real annoyance with my insurance came about. After a long meeting with the specialist specializing in sleep issues, the doctor decided it was pretty clear I had some sort of sleep disorder and a test would be necessary to prove it. Now, I was a textbook subject for this disorder showing almost all the signs that I could conceivably show so we submitted the paperwork, I was assured it was practically guaranteed to be approved and schedule the test.

Two days before I was supposed to show up for the test I received a call from the doctor's office informing me that they had heard from my insurance company and I had been denied. I received a letter from the insurance company that same day as well. Now I don't want to blow my own horn and make myself sound like a genius (as doing so usually makes you sound like a fool) but I do believe I'm reasonably smart and I've spent many, many years reading through technical babble in the course of my education. So I could tell something seemed wrong when I read the letter and couldn't quite seem to figure out what it was they were saying with the exception of course of the fact that I was denied.

I made an appointment to see the doctor again and made sure to bring the letter with me. Apparently the doctor had not been fully informed as to why it was showing up and was extra surprised when I produced the letter. She read over the letter and didn't even manage to get through the first page before picking up the phone and calling my insurance company. It would seem I was not the only one who was confused by their babble. She couldn't make heads or tails of it and in fact was quite convinced that pieces of it contradicted other pieces. After going through about 45 minutes of red tape and bureaucrats she finally managed to convince the company that's the case needed to be reviewed again as clearly they had made a mistake.

It took a few weeks but eventually the company decided that we were correct and they had erroreed. It took quite a long time to get back into the testing facility but I finally managed to get a test scheduled.

But of course it wasn't over. Besides the fact that the tests revealed nothing wrong I later received a bill from my insurance company for a fairly sizable amount. It seemed even though I had gotten the procedure preapproved they were still only willing to pay for part of it. It's taken quite a few phone calls and I've only managed to make them budge a small amount on the price.

I've given up in more ways than one. It's become clear that I most likely won't get a price any lower and so I'll simply have to deal with what I have. I also no longer work for that company. At the end of the day I've had enough and know when to throw in the towel and start over somewhere else.