One of my pet peeves is dealing with insurance companies. It truly seems that insurance companies hire more than their share of incompetent workers. It is frustrating.
I had a medical issue which I was pretty sure would require some minor surgery so I went on the website of my insurance company to insure I got a doctor the insurance would cover. Found a doctor, scheduled an appointment, paid my co-pay and saw the doctor only to find out he's "in network" for appointments but "out of network" for surgeries. Couldn't the website have told me that? I wouldn't have scheduled with him in the first place. Now I'd need to find a new doctor, schedule another appointment (weeks out, of course) and pay ANOTHER co-pay.
So, this time I called the insurance company only to have the representative snidely inform me that I could find my own doctors if I'd just go to the website. I explained (NICELY) that I had but that hadn't worked so well for me. The rep went on a tirade about how it wasn't the insurance company's fault that the doctor didn't keep his info updated on the site. Whatever...just give me the name of a doctor.
The name they gave me was a doctor I'd used years ago. I told them this doctor wasn't listed on their website. They told me I must have used the wrong search parameters. Called this doctor only to find out he retired - FOUR YEARS AGO! Called the insurance company back to have another rep again rudely suggest that I could find my own doctor if I'd use the website. (yeah, like that had worked for me so far).
Got transferred and put on hold for 15 minutes then was told to go see Dr. X who happened to be the one I'd already seen. I explained again (slower this time) that Dr. X was out of network for surgeries. They suggested Dr. Y. I told them Dr. Y retired. They suggested Dr. Z. When I tried to confirm that he could perform surgeries "in network" I was told, "Oops, no." Great. Does anyone actually listen to the customer. Once more, I need a specialist in X field who can perform surgeries "in network".
An hour later I finally hung up with the names of a couple of doctors. Both are about 40 minutes from my home which is completely inconvenient. I haven't even worked up the strength to call them and start this whole process over.
After dealing with the insurance company, I might now need a mental health specialist!
3 weeks ago
I so understand. I had a bunch of labs done thinking we had a $500 co pay. Come to find out we have a $1000 co pay. And this Dr. that I went to is out of state (in Oregon) so I get only the out of state discount which isn't very much. I can tell you though that I have almost met my deductible for the year and it's only March!!!!
ReplyDeleteSorry you had so much trouble. I have a friend who went to the Dr. about her physical problems only to have the Dr. give her a Mental Health form!!! She wasn't even going to her for her mental health!! LOL!! We laugh about it now. Dr.'s and Insurances!!!! UGH!!
What a pain! I would definately write to your company and complain about who they go through for insurance as well as send a letter to the insurance(with names if you have them) explaining the issue and how long it took to get help and how rude they were.
ReplyDeleteJill
I just found a little time to catch up on blog reading. Doesn't sound good. Its hard enough to get motivated to even go to a Dr. I'm sorry let me know if I can help.I would also be doing some complaining!
ReplyDeleteKaren