Responses
Laelia: bleh (7/28/09)
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The week starts off with a dead battery in my Kathy's car so you know it is not good. I have doctor appointments and staff meeting and I really don't have time for a dead battery. Jeff is on vacation and so I have to go elsewhere to find a battery. I was supposed to go in to the hospital for a pre-op exam and consult before next Tuesday's surgery. Then the phone rang...
It was the hospital calling. The lady said everything was approved and ready for the surgery. Blue Cross and Blue Shield had confirmed my coverage and she said she was calling to tell me I was ready to go and to make arrangements for the $5,000 deductible which needed to be paid before we could proceed. What?!?!?!?!
I told her she was nuts and that we had a plan that did not require any deductible, just several hundreds of dollars in co-pays and she said I was wrong and that we needed to make arrangements for the $5,000 before I could have the surgery. I told her I did not believe we owed it and she said she had just confirmed it with BCBS and that I could call if I wanted, but she was sure I owed $5,000. I laughed and told her we would just have to cancel the surgery then, because I do not have $5,000. She said that we could work out a payment plan and I laughed again and said that unless it was a dollar a year for the next 5000 years it would be out of the question. I don't have a budget that can take a hit like that. She kept insisting we could make payment arrangements and I assured her I would just cancel the surgery and wait until next year and pick a different health plan or have my wife quit the VA and find employment elsewhere where they had better insurance.
When I got home this evening I found the book that explains the benefits and unless it is hidden in fine print somewhere in the 60 page book, I don't see a $5,000 deductible anywhere. So now I get to spend more hours on the phone tomorrow trying to figure it out. Sigh...
Like there isn't enough stress in this whole process.
Rod | 
