A Tad Angry

Medical insurance companies must have a lot of fun messing with people. They always seem to have a legitimate reason for why something isn’t covered. I always hang up wondering, “Well, just what IS covered then? With all the money I am paying, I’d assume something like this would be covered!”

I was completely prepared to have my angiogram Tuesday morning. We’d arranged for a baby sitter for the kids, I had work on standby in case I wouldn’t make it in, and I had filled out the questionnaire they needed. Then the phone rang ….

Monday at 3pm, I got a call from the hospital saying that my procedure had been cancelled. The reason? My insurance company would not authorize it. The hospital told me that the ordering doctor was not available to talk with the insurance company, so it was cancelled. (My doc is out for a couple weeks for a medical procedure.)

I called my doctor’s office, knowing that another doctor was filling in for mine. I explained that I needed the doctor to do a “peer to peer” with the insurance company to get the authorization. I was scurrying around making calls to insurance, to the hospital and my doctor’s office. In the end, the doctor was able to get ahold of the insurance company, however, they said they would not authorize the angiogram until I did the stress test.

The stress test is tomorrow. I have no idea what it is going to show, but I got an email today saying that I could schedule (REschedule) the angiogram, and if they felt like I didn’t need it, they’d cancel it. Well, obviously, my doctor seemed to think that I needed it. Since when do they get to decide what tests I need and don’t need? It’s ridiculous!

As angry as I am, I will wait patiently….