New Rule

New Rule.....

insurance companies must be helpful.

48 million americans don't have to worry about the inefficiencies of health insurance companies because, well, they don't have coverage. actually, the problem isn't so much that large insurance companies like united healthcare and anthem blue cross are inefficient, greedy and ridiculously narrow minded, it's more that they're simply ineffective. their advertising always claims acts in the best interests of patients--except for the non-people that can't get coverage (they don't count as patients, even when they're dying), yet my experiences with each have been more of the "we'll give you the run around in order to save a few bucks" type of treatment.

a few months back, i ripped apart my ankle. it hurt. alot. it wasn't just some ordinary sprain, the shit was actually torn. my doctor, the one that spent countless years and, presumably untold mini-fortunes learning about how to fix things like torn ankles, had to clear with big brother, i mean the insurance company, sending me for an MRI. after a 20 minute phone call (with me present), inclusive of him being grilled by some non MD hack on the other end of the line questioning his treatment, i was approved to go for the test, which--SHOCK--revealed the significant damage.

fast forward to this week. 2.5 weeks after heart attack #2, i was experiencing issues brought on by my medications. i called the dr. to complain and to weasel my way off of one of the dreaded pills. no one called me back. at all. so, i decided it was time to find a different practice. problem is, there aren't really many 28 year olds with my condition, and none of the ones that exist are my friends. i had no one to ask for a recommendation.

i called my insurance company thinking that surely they'd know, 'cause i pay them a lot of money to do so. at the very least they should have a "rating" system for physicians in their network to determine the best ones from the not so best ones. the helpful customer service rep recommended a different doctor....within the same practice. i calmly explained--so as not to have yet another coronary--that i wanted a DIFFERENT practice, as in not the one i'm currently using. further searches returned results for family practioners and internal medicine. yes, the heart is internal, but it also has its own dedicated study, in case that wasn't mentioned in the employee handbook.

i heard some clicking in the background and shortly thereafter she began reading off the names of potential treatment providers in my area. being the guru of the world wide web machine that i am, i was logged onto the insurance co.'s website, and as she read off name #3, i read along with her. she was shocked, as if i'd needed to be treated for a bad case of ESP rather than heart disease.

for a company that is more than happy to take my money each month, it shouldn't be unreasonable to expect that they'll have people that work for them that may actually know something about healthcare. perhaps it'd be advisable to start small, like knowing the difference between cardiology and gastroenterology first, and gradually build into skill sets like being able to identify good doctors vs. ones that graduated at the bottom of their class.

for all the coverage they provide--significant in my case--insurance companies sure do cause a lot of problems, often as many as they solve. sometimes it just seems more palatable to be uninsured than to have to deal with the shit these conglomerates put you through. sure, you wouldn't actually have access to life-saving medicine or preventive care because they're so outrageously expensive, but then again, it's not as if your insurance provider actually cares enough to know where to send you anyway.