Regarding medical insurance companies. I won't bore you with the details.

[LuckyCharms]

I just had to do a deep dive into this bullshit problem I am having with my medical insurance.

I had to go back a year and a half and review my scanned copies of old EOB's (explanations of benefits) to try to fix a $1,300 problem on their part. That took 2 hours for the research.

When I finally figured out what happened, my conclusion is that if the average person understood how these companies operate, people would be out in the streets with pitchforks and tar/feathers.

[BigmanPigman]

1. Every time I get botox injections for my migraines

Last edited Thu Jul 19, 2018, 09:59 PM - Edit history (1)

through ACA Blue Shield the bill is different. EVERY SINGLE TIME! I called twice and their BS is too much to figure out. It gives me a migraine! My mother took care of my dad's parents' medical and nursing home bills and it was a full time job. She worked in the medical profession so she can handle their twisted logic and lingo without becoming frustrated.

[LuckyCharms]

4. It's so horrible. I'm getting bills virtually every day

that are incorrect. Yes, it is a full-time job trying to decipher that stuff, and sometimes, you will get different answers depending on the person you talk to at the company.

[BigmanPigman]

8. Man, don't I know it.

You would think that asking for their name would make them more accountable but it doesn't.

The thing is...I think they do it on purpose to a degree. People who are older or don't know computers are total victims of the rip-offs. Some can't hear or see well, some have dementia, or are just too sick and in pain or too weak to even be able to begin to decipher their ever changing prices, rules and policies. It is part of their "system". If there was universal healthcare I doubt there would be nearly as many problems. We are supposedly an advanced country but you couldn't convince me of that when you look at our broken (and not likely to be fixed in my lifetime) health care system

[onecaliberal]

2. I went through the same thing with my insurance company when my husband

Had his stroke. It’s shocking and seriously unbelievable. I was on a leave of absence from work or I wouldn’t have had the time to sort through it. I think they count on people not understanding or having the time.

[Control-Z]

3. Truth.

I reached that same conclusion a few years ago.

[mythology]

5. To an extent it depends on the insurance company

I had one I had to fight for years to get approval to have my tonsils removed.

My current insurance company, my doctor told me to do whatever I could to keep it because they approve the expensive and rare surgery I needed to do the things I like to do. I was approved in less than 1 business day. I've heard of people with other insurance companies fight for months. In full disclosure, I work for said insurance company, but I'm not speaking as an employee.

[Leith]

6. A Friend Whose Husband Died Recently Is Having the Same Problem

He was a mish-mash of medical problems: he was a diabetic who had gangrene in one foot. That was removed. Then he had heart valve problems which led to a full-blown heart attack. Then his kidneys gave out. He was put into an induced coma while they sorted out what could be fixed, worked on, or if anything could be done at all. Finally, after about 3 weeks, he died.

Add in two different hospitals, the most IVs I've ever seen hooked up to one person, COBRA he had from early retirement. Some doctors who were assigned by the hospital were not in-plan and nobody notified the wife. It turned out that she didn't have health care power of attorney so whatever some doctor guessed they could do was what was done until she got the PoA.

She was going nuts over the EOBs. She dreaded going to the mailbox because every day brought new paperwork: not just EOBs, but bills from the hospitals, the ambulance company, various doctors, and for medication.

Here's the punchline: she used to work for the insurance company her husband had his policy with. She had been there for more than 25 years. She knew people in positions of power to call on to get information and who could get things removed from the bills. Her brother is a prominent doctor who is well situated with the insurance company (he got his son, a niece, and a friend's kid jobs with the company) and could make more calls on her behalf.

And she was still completely confused, stressed out from being a new widow and having to deal with the circus of problems with the insurance company, and ready to scream.

She had always been a defender of private insurance. She used her knowledge of the industry to shut down any talk of Medicare for All or single payer insurance. She had all the talking points that the reichwing throws at us about the subject.

I couldn't resist: I asked her how much worse it would be if she didn't know about health insurance and she had nobody in a position of power to call. And that's what most people have to go through when they have medical procedures done.

I sympathize with your situation and it would be wonderful if we lived in a civilized, 1st world country that had a sane healthcare system. Best of luck to you.

[pansypoo53219]

7. indeed, but people are afraid.