Most likely I will never go on a rampage, but if I ever do, it will be health care related for sure. I got a call from the hospital today saying that MVP didn't have me covered under a policy and that I needed to call them.. I swore at the lady and smashed a bunch of my favorite possessions. What could possibly get me that pissed off immeadiatly... Health care red tape bullshit. For an entire year I called my previous employer (whom I'd left unfavorably) thier insurance, benifits department and my new insurance provider to be. I was never taken off of the group insurance active list when I quit my job, so I couldn't get insurance because I had insurance. However, I didn't really have insurance. My current employer doesn't offer insurance, so I applied for Vermont State Health Care Assistance.....Three times...And I had to verify my income three times, get my boss to fill out paper work three times and call every friggin' office involved about three hundred times.
Then I had insurance..but I could find a health care provider who was taking patients. I found one eventually, but I had to wait two months for an appointment. A day before my long awaited scheduled visit, they called and cancelled and told me they could get me in on September 3rd, which was two months away.. I asked the receptionist, "are we in the middle of an African rainforest or in the richest country in the world?" She said there was nothing she could do, "I told her there was, she could go fuck herself!" So, now I was back in the market for a health care provider. I found a doctor's office that was going out of bussiness because it is owned by our poor ass local hospital. This office was void of all other patients and when I went in, they acted happy to see me, espeacially since they are closing in December. I went in to see my new doctor about a few issues that I have been waiting to have taken care of since I left my former job two years ago. I filled out the forms and ansewered his questionaire honestly, which means I admitted to drinking three glasses of wine every night and smoking pot occasionally. Bad Idea! He sat me down, used the C.A.G.E. assement to fit me into the category of borderline alcoholic and told me he could get me treatment...but I just went in to get some meds that I used to be on and an annual check up. I didn't go there because alcohol and drugs were ruining my life. He recommended that I see a drug and substance counselor for treatment, but I spent the last year living with two drug and substance abuse counselors who told me that I was living the average normal life of a bachelor and that I showed little signs of having a chemical dependance issue. The doctor had me come back for a follow up visit after some blood work, scheduled me for a stress test because I was considering getting back in shape and another follow up appointment with him to go over those results. I cancelled the stress test and the follow up because I don't feel I need them. The only reason to go back to my doctor would be to get the meds I need for a medical condition I have that I have had for years, (but he won't write me a presciption until I see him a few more times and the meds that I need are non-narcotic). So I said the hell with him and I have been working out for two months and have lost twenty-five puonds. I have been eating right and paying my bills on time.
This morning I ansewered the phone and it was the hospital asking me to verify my MVP health care information. It didn't go through, in fact, it showed that I didn't have insurance at all. I swore at this lady and appollogized immeaditely, assuming I should have been bitching to the insurance or the Vermont assistance program that sends me three different letters every month. The first letter usually says that my health coverage has ended, the second, that my coverage has been approved and that I need to fill out the appropriate information with my employer (for a fouth time) and the last envelope usually is my monthly premium. Naturally, I assumed the fault was with Vermont state. I called their office and they said I was currently covered and that I had been for three months. I called MVP and waited for assitance for fifteen minutes on hold after running through thier push button bullshit menu. I was transferred, twice and then told that I am currently covered and that I have been for three months. The member's service specialist said I should call the billing department at the hospital and tell them to call MVP. I called the billing department and they just picked up the phone and hung it up, four times.. Probably on a lunch break...at noon, (most people's lunch break), the only time most people have to handle this type of shit.
Bureucratic bullshit is wasting money, time and effiicency. I don't give a shit about paying a million dollars for health care...its kind of worth it. The real problem with the industry is the unwillingness for coverage to be granted (as it is supposed to be according to the subscriber's coverage manual), The local hospital is going broke because they don't have comptent people filling out the claims with the insurance companies and making sure the hospital gets paid.. They send me the bill when they can't do thier job and tell me its my responsibility to pay, becuase they can't file a claim. I won't pay, thats what the insurance is for and every time I call the insurance they say, yeah we cover that, but we never got a claim form from the doctor. Maybe he's the one with the drug problem.
My final conclusion is that doctor's are the same as car repair shops, you go in for one thing and they try to scare you into paying for another as well. they don't care about you, they want money...They'll tell you that you need surgery, when you don't and tell you that your insurance will cover it 100% and they won't. So you end up with thousands of dollars in uncovered medical expenses and the hospital puts you on a pay plan. They won't get a dime from me, those scoundrels....I'm about to have a goddam heart attack dealing with this shit!!!!!!!!!!!I wish it was just one person who was at fault..I'd go kick his ass!
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