Tattle Tale

Well, I finally did it.

Monday is why.

On Monday, I went to the clinic.  SO relieved that the chemo would be outpatient.  I think there may actually have been a skip in my step.

I show up.  The Nurse Practitioner peeks her head in the door.  "I'm so sorry about the bad news."  Thump thump thump my heart almost jumps out of my chest.  "Bad news?" I said.

"Yes, that you won't be able to do this outpatient..."

"WHAT????" I screamed (yes, I actually screamed).

Nurse: "Your health insurance didn't approve it.  You would have to pay 100% of the cost."

Me: "WHAT??  they would rather pay thousands of dollars for hospital care instead of allow me to do the work outpatient??"

Nurse: " Our home healthcare provider is not contracted with your insurance."

Me: "WHAT??" My body is literally, visibly trembling as I fumble through my purse, trying to call my health insurance.  The nurses quickly back away as they can see that something very bad is about to go down, or around, or possibly near their face.

After several minutes of fumbling and trying to get phone numbers, and calling my husband almost crying, I finally get through to a claims agent.  They wonder why I am so upset, because they do cover it.  If it is out of network, it is covered at 70%, if in network 100%.  This provider happened to be in network and it would be covered 100%.

NO ONE CALLED THEM until I did.

The home healthcare provider made an assumption about my insurance, assuming it was another one? another one that does not pay their bills.  And without calling my insurance, decided that they would not accept me as a patient. 

Then, my nurse, (remember "Ursula"), not checking for herself, but taking the home healthcare provider at their word, called and left me a message (while I was on vacation).  I did not check my messages.  No one called my cell phone.

No one made any attempt to call my insurance to verify until I did. Until my shaky hand finally managed to get though to a real live person and ask one question.  "Am I covered?"  "Yes."

That was it.  Easy as pie.  But first I had to be tortured by incompetence.

So today I finally complained.  I spoke with the social worker advocate and told her my concerns and requested a new nurse. She said that may not be possible, and that she would try to work things out with my current one.  I'm not so sure how that will work. 

Tomorrow I speak to the nurse supervisor.  I will press for a new nurse altogether.  I'm sure my complaints will not improve our current relationship.

What are these people thinking?  I think before becoming a nurse or a doctor you should have to spend a month straight in a  hospital, with a noisy roommate, and be woken up at 4 am every morning for blood draws.  It would definitely give them more empathy (even without the traumatic diagnosis to go with their stay).  I bet every single one of them would turn into a belligerent loon.  Maybe they'd at least get their butts moving when it came time to release patients.  Maybe they would advocate for me, and actually call my insurance, rather than jump to someone else's conclusions.

I was trembling all day.  Even after they told me it had all been worked out.