Can I just say that if you have a chronic health issue be prepared for dealing with a MAJOR load of crap if you are EVER required to change your health insurance.
All you folks who lost your insurance coverage and had to find a new one due to Obamacare are in for a real treat, yessirree!
I am sitting on hold on the phone for the FOURTH WEEK now, dealing with changing my health coverage to a new provider and trying to coordinate the changing of my durable medical goods(DME) coverage from my old healthcare provider's company to the new healthcare provider's company.
Words can not express to you what a colossal PITA of an ordeal this has been.
Between the layers of bureaucracy of the medical establishment I am dealing with and the layers of stupidity that make up the insurance company and it's all too numerous contracted-out "partners", all of whom know not what the other is doing, I am about ready to swallow my tongue in frustration!
I have spent upwards of 2 hours each day that I have to call on the phone, explaining and re-explaining this crap until I am blue in the face. And then I am told to wait a few days to follow up.
And when I follow up, guess what? NOTHING has changed and we are still at square one and we get to go through this crap again.
It's like "Waiting for Godot's Insurance".....
It's almost 6 weeks now and I have no coverage for my DMEs because these @#%%^#$!@ people can't get their collective shit together!
My current(soon to be EX) DME provider was told on January 15th the information for my new healthcare provider and to bill them.
But that hasn't stopped them from continuing to bill my old healthcare provider who of course, is paying NOTHING to them, as the numerous EOBs I have been receiving state.
OMG! What a bunch of buffoons!
I foresee receiving bills and collection notices from that old DME in the future since they won't bill the new healthcare provider, as they should be, for payment. They are lazy asses and will just not even try to collect from the company they SHOULD be collecting from and will end up coming after us.
And guess who is NOT paying for their stupidity?!
Me.
And I can't get rid of this old DME company until the new insurance company preauthorizes that I need this bunch of equipment and will cover it's cost.
So I am stuck unless I just send all the DMEs I currently have back and stop using them altogether, and possibly die in my sleep because I don't have them.
How nice.
That's one way to get rid of a healthcare consumer you don't want to shell out $$$ for who might cut into your corporate profits.....
All you young people out there, take my advise---
Stop smoking, drinking, eating, doing anything that can injure you(riding in vehicles, participating in organized sports, going out in public places, etc.)and never get any terminal or chronic diseases because you inherited bad genes.
Because if you have to deal with the bureaucratic bullshit that I've been dealing with(let alone having to take care of your health issues), you are better off just jumping off a bridge.
Going off now to relax before I stroke out.
Seriously.
I just want to scream at one of these customer service automatons.
And if I get caught in yet another voice mail phone tree hell I am going to take a sledgehammer to the phone.
Sluggy
All you folks who lost your insurance coverage and had to find a new one due to Obamacare are in for a real treat, yessirree!
I am sitting on hold on the phone for the FOURTH WEEK now, dealing with changing my health coverage to a new provider and trying to coordinate the changing of my durable medical goods(DME) coverage from my old healthcare provider's company to the new healthcare provider's company.
Words can not express to you what a colossal PITA of an ordeal this has been.
Between the layers of bureaucracy of the medical establishment I am dealing with and the layers of stupidity that make up the insurance company and it's all too numerous contracted-out "partners", all of whom know not what the other is doing, I am about ready to swallow my tongue in frustration!
I have spent upwards of 2 hours each day that I have to call on the phone, explaining and re-explaining this crap until I am blue in the face. And then I am told to wait a few days to follow up.
And when I follow up, guess what? NOTHING has changed and we are still at square one and we get to go through this crap again.
It's like "Waiting for Godot's Insurance".....
It's almost 6 weeks now and I have no coverage for my DMEs because these @#%%^#$!@ people can't get their collective shit together!
My current(soon to be EX) DME provider was told on January 15th the information for my new healthcare provider and to bill them.
But that hasn't stopped them from continuing to bill my old healthcare provider who of course, is paying NOTHING to them, as the numerous EOBs I have been receiving state.
OMG! What a bunch of buffoons!
I foresee receiving bills and collection notices from that old DME in the future since they won't bill the new healthcare provider, as they should be, for payment. They are lazy asses and will just not even try to collect from the company they SHOULD be collecting from and will end up coming after us.
And guess who is NOT paying for their stupidity?!
Me.
And I can't get rid of this old DME company until the new insurance company preauthorizes that I need this bunch of equipment and will cover it's cost.
So I am stuck unless I just send all the DMEs I currently have back and stop using them altogether, and possibly die in my sleep because I don't have them.
How nice.
That's one way to get rid of a healthcare consumer you don't want to shell out $$$ for who might cut into your corporate profits.....
All you young people out there, take my advise---
Stop smoking, drinking, eating, doing anything that can injure you(riding in vehicles, participating in organized sports, going out in public places, etc.)and never get any terminal or chronic diseases because you inherited bad genes.
Because if you have to deal with the bureaucratic bullshit that I've been dealing with(let alone having to take care of your health issues), you are better off just jumping off a bridge.
Going off now to relax before I stroke out.
Seriously.
I just want to scream at one of these customer service automatons.
And if I get caught in yet another voice mail phone tree hell I am going to take a sledgehammer to the phone.
Sluggy
Sluggy I so fear this is going to be my life when my husband retires. I am sorry you are going through this.
ReplyDeleteTime to go have yourself a big old bottle of wine...or even better whiskey and to hell with them :)
ReplyDeleteI hate to point this out to you but "buffoon" is not a strong enough word for this post!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe new health care law is nothing more than a new tax. They make it so expensive that we have no money left if we actually need to go to the doctor. And even if we can scrape together the money to go to the doctor, they will complicate the CRAP out if it so we won't dare come back. Quit working, sell everything and go on welfare. That's about all I got for you!
Well I was trying to take the High Road here and not be my usual Pottymouth....can't you tell? lolz
DeleteMark my words the day is coming when the working folks will say "why bother?", quit their jobs and just stop feeding tax $s into this broken system and go on the dole.
Atlas will be Shrugging big time then!
So, may I ask, why did so many people think Obama was the best choice? Twice? Really? Sorry you are going through this Sluggy. I hope this gets better before it gets worse. I just saw my eye doctor today and she said this new healthcare debacle is creating havoc with most of her patients. Ugh.
ReplyDeletewait till you go to your original doctor and find out he or she has opted out of obamacare and will not take your new insurance. that's our current experience. in dec '13 all our docs stated they were on our new policy but come jan 1 2014, most of them changed their mind.
ReplyDeleteyup, this new healthcare is just wonderful.
i hope everyone who voted for this crap gets to enjoy their new coverage. i have no sympathy because we were all warned but we didn't believe the naysayers.
i need to find all new doctors. truthfully, i don't think i'm going to see anyone. i'll wait for the repeal.
When we changed insurance companies I did indeed have to go around to all my drs. to verify that they were "in network" or not and then change drs. for the ones who were not.
ReplyDeleteAnd we have private insurance and not from a state exchange and I am STILL having great difficulties coordinating/changing everything over. I think if I was on one of those public policies I'd just put a gun to my head. ugh.
Stop smoking... check. (never started). Stop drinking (alcohol? If so, I don't drink) check. Stop eating... sadly, check. Please be kind to the phone. It's just the messenger! I've been in a bit of a runaround from a similar fiasco with my parents, and it's still going. I'll be VERY happy when it's over, because for now, they're just holding my money hostage, and neither party is talking to the other, so nothing gets done... frustrating, yeah. Just take a break. Call them and hang the issue when you hang up, then pick it back up on your next call. Don't have a stroke!
ReplyDeleteMove to Colorado and start smoking weed. Or tell your hubby tell your hubs to quit working so hard so you can just get Medicaid or a tax subsidy to pay for your health insurance.
ReplyDeleteI am catching up with your blog and am so sorry to hear you are going through this.
ReplyDeleteI guess I will never quit my job. We have great insurance and only a minor increase in premiums from last year. And the coverage is a bit better. I will never complain about it again.