The Great Insurance Saga

[telophase]

OK, I get to the doctor's office half an hour before the appointment to fill out my new-patient paperwork. My insurance company hasn't sent me a card yet, but I figure that I've got my social security number, my TCU ID number, the insurance group number, and so on, it shouldn't be too much of a hassle. After I sit down in the waiting area, they call me back up. The insurance company claims to have no record of me.

They take money out of my paycheck! Someone's got a record of me! OK, that's fine, I'll just call TCU's HR office and see if they can figure it out on their end. I don't have the HR number. The doc's office is in Arlington and not Fort Worth, because it's the closest one to my apartment that I could find, so they don't have a Fort Worth phonebook. I ask if they have an Internet connection, because we could look it up that way. This is apparently too hard for them to comprehend[1] and it takes a while and I have to talk them step-by-step through looking up 'www.tcu.edu', scrolling down the list of links on the left-hand side, and clicking on 'Human Resources'. Thank God the phone number is RIGHT THERE on the HR webpage.

HR finally gets called. Of course, TCU's switching to a new provider at the end of the year and today is the deadline for everyone to get their paperwork in, so most of the campus has waited until today to phone HR and ask questions about insurance. They take the number of the doctor's office and promise to call them once they get something worked out.

The front desk calls me back up, and says that the insurance company STILL doesn't believe I exist. The supervisor - all this has proven to be too much for the front-desk people and they call their supervisor out, who actually appears to have a clue - says that I can go ahead and pay for the visit and then put a claim in once the insurance stuff is worked out. She also offered me the chance to reschedule, but I almost lost it at that point (I'd been fairly chipper up til then) with "I have a migraine I need to see the doctor TODAY."

They get me in. Once I'm in the office, my phone rings and it's TCU HR telling me that the problem was someone put my SSN in wrong. OK, yay, something's being figured out, at least.

The actual appointment is almost anticlimactic after that - the doctor says she thinks it's migraines and since the Relpax works, I should keep taking it because it's really good for the nagging headaches like I get, even though it takes longer to kick in than other drugs. She's aware of the Great Insurance Saga and instead of giving me a prescription, since we don't know if the insurance was going to pay it or not - gives me a handful of samples and tells me to come back when the insurance is taken care of and she'll give me a prescription. She also, I find out shortly, writes "50% off" on my bill. I like this doctor. I think I'll stick with her.

Once I'm out in the office again, turns out the insurance company doens't even have a record of me under the incorrect SSN. So they charge me - half price, whee! - and I leave, popping a Relpax on the way and going by the grocery store to pick up fried chicken so I wouldn't have to even reheat anything for lunch.

TCU HR left a message on my voicemail while I was in the store telling me that theyw ere aware of the new problems and that they re-set up up in the system and gave me an alternate ID# to use, so I should be able to submit a claim for the fee I paid. Whee! I am reamining positive for the moment, and I'm about to go take a nap since I only got 5 or so hours of sleep last night and after today I desperately need one. The migraine's mostly gone, and I have hopes that a nap will kick it the rest of the way.



[1] As Mom says - one of the confused girls who don't understand that you can look phone numbers up online from company websites is probably doing your Medicaid paperwork RIGHT NOW!

Comments

[pzb.livejournal.com]

Aren't doctor's offices just sooooo much fun?? My last doctor's office was like that.... the short of the very long two week saga I went through with them was two weeks of the drug store and me trying to get a hold of someone who could add refills to my perscription to the pint it threw me off a month....got it once I drove down to the damn office and bitched them out. (Though that was rather thereputic :D) My doctor's receptionist (since there were about 6 drs in this one office) even commented that this was the worst run office she had ever worked in. (They ultimately found the note from the pharmacy in another patient's file...isn't that comforting....at least it was a woman...how amusing would that have been though? "Uh, yes, Mr. Soandso? Your birth control is ready....")

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Yup. The main problem seemed to be on the insurance company's end, however, so I have hopes that I can at least deal with the front-office staff (or demand that the supervisor be called :), especially because I really did like the doctor.

I have a stamp, now, at least, so I can send you the money order tomorrow. :)

[mundeemo.livejournal.com]

By chance was your doctor Dr. Baker? If so that would be super weird. Since she is my Doctor as well as Bruce's and my mother's and it gets better she is my mother's neighbor.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Nope. Dr. Gaydos.