Category: Mens Health

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Again with the Anthem BULLSHIT!

UnknownOK, Today I’m starting a search for new insurance carrier.

I had an appointment with a new physcian today. The operative word is HAD. I drive an hour to get to the appointment. I walk in, I’m early, and I’m expecting to fill out the obligatory paperwork.

I hand the little bitch behind the counter my ID and insurance card and she tell me that I have an Obamacare plan and they don’t accept those.

NewImage.pngI tell her my plan is not Obamacare and that given my premiums I expect a little privacy instead of her announcing that I have an Obamacare plan.

I’m LESS than amused. Since I, as a consumer cannot determine if the plan I’m paying through the nose for is Obamacare or not, at least not by looking at the fucking insurance card. However I’m really torqued out of shape about the “Announcement” that I have an Obamacare plan I don’t like the stigma associated with Obamacare.

NewImage.pngThis doctor will not be seeing me. I will not do business with a doctor whose staff is so indiscreet. I felt like she’d just told the full waiting room something like; “OH your lab results came back you have Syphillis!”

Lets be realistic the doctor patient relationships is a BUSINESS relationship akin to Client / Attorney privilege.

So I’ll be back on the phone with the damn insurance idiots this afternoon to determine if this plan is actually OBAMAFUCKINGCARE. If it is, then we’re going to have a conversation that may require a Valium on my part.

As I write this, I’m sitting on a patio at a StarBucks having a treat. Sometimes you just need to have some fun.

If the Arabs would shut the hell up it would be a perfect situation. I’m enjoying the eye candy sitting across from my table and thinking some seriously dirty thoughts.

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I was probably a little rough on that lady…

NewImage.pngJust got a call from someone claiming to be a billing company for my GP.

I haven’t seen my GP in 7 months, so when she asked me if I’d gotten the statement I was all “What?”

Then she reads off the wrong address. AGAIN! and I got a little pissed off. My MAILING address hasn’t changed in 20 years! Even after the house burned down the mailing address didn’t change.

NewImage.pngThis billing firm and I have been through this time and again and they STILL haven’t gotten it right.

Part of it is the arrogance of the data entry people.

After all the one in 10,000 forms that they process, which has a post office box on it can’t possibly be right. The patient filling out the form would take the time to put the post office box number on the form, especially since it is completely un-necessary.

NewImage.pngShe said “I don’t know why the information is incorrect.”

I replied, “I do! It’s because you people are horribly inefficient and your data is corrupt. I will be bringing this up with the doctor the next time I see him.  It’s funny, I get mail from the doctor’s office with no difficulty.”

I disconnected.

Of course this begs another question. Since I haven’t seen the doctor in 7 months or so, what the hell is this billing company trying to bill me for? I thought we’d settled up long ago.

I see a complete review of my medical bills in the near future. It’s not unheard of for medical billing companies to send out duplicate bills long after the fact, in hopes of pocketing the excess cash.

NewImage.pngThis is one of the reasons that I prefer to PAY for the services rendered at the time that the services are rendered. I hate having some bullshit insurance company negotiation going on for months behind the scenes that results in a bill that I can’t verify because I don’t know how much the services are costing me in the first place.

This isn’t about Obamacare, this is about the way the insurance companies and the medical providers services have evolved. This is the kind of thing that government regulation could have assisted the people with.

As I’ve said before, I’d prefer to deal upfront. I’d like to know what the cost for each service and materials for that service are. Then I, as an informed consumer could choose which services and procedures I’m willing to pay for, and which services are perhaps extraneous.

DSC_0442.jpgAfter all, you don’t buy new brakes for your car at every oil change, why should you have an expensive and un-necessary service done every time you go into the doctor?  You & your doctor should be working co-operatively and that requires informed choices. Pricing and purpose of a test or procedure isn’t unreasonable to ask for.

The way the system is now, you can have billing that shows up literally YEARS after the fact and that makes it very difficult to figure out if you should pay the bill, or if the bill is even yours.

I guess I’ll know in a few days. When I get the bill I’m going to drop by the doctors office and have a little chat.

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Back on the phone with Anthem BlueCross

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This is what, the 12th time I’ve had to call these people in 4 months?

Today it’s about receiving a couple of bills that make absolutely not fucking sense. I’m sooooo Tired of dealing with this bullshit!

Then there’s the little annoyances that tend to get you (alright ME!) amped up before you’ve even gotten into a hold queue wating for an agent that will probably fuck your shit up worse than it already is.

I swear every time I speak to one of these people they claim that everything is happy and good to go and then a month later I get something generated from a computer that makes it obvious something is still horrifically fucked up.

So in order to blow off steam before I actually talk to a human, here are the irritations in the order of encountering them.

Item One

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Bills (one each) for portions of a policy. Contained within these 3 page bills is one page with explainations of how I can have an interpreter and a phone number for the Department of Insurance.

This page is printed in Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Korean, Russian, Japanese, Arabic, Armenian, Punjabi, Khmer, Hmong, and Persian.

The main bill is all printed in English and I’ve identified as being an English speaker, so I’m somewhat annoyed by the waste of 3 pieces of paper every month.

Actually it’s 9 pieces of paper every month because they are supposed to be billing this directly from my checking account.

What they’ve been doing is billing my account then sending me 9 pieces of paper telling me that they’ve billed my account.

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Item Two

Of course nowhere on this bill do they have a phone number to call if you have questions about billing. Instead they say you’re supposed to call the Member Number on the back of your insurance card. Only problem is:

THERE IS NO MEMBER PHONE NUMBER!

There is however a customer service number that puts you into the insanity of a voice prompted computer system that doesn’t understand standard spoken English.

Eventually I just start hammering around on random numbers until I get into a hold queue.

Item Three

The reminder that all representatives are still busy played every 30 seconds. Yeah I kinda figured out that you guys are busy BECAUSE I was on hold listening to shitty hold music! How about extending that notice to once every 90 seconds?

Then I hear someone answer the phone. Wow! I was only on hold for 45 minutes this time.

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I get to a very nice man in the Philippines. Yeah, the Philippines who is able to answer my questions. Really?

The folks in the Philippines are a very nice and gracious people but why aren’t we talking to Americans?

You know out of work Americans who are struggling to feed themselves and THEIR families?

Item Four

Anyway, the nice man explains that the two bills I have saying that payment is immediately due are because Anthem failed to debit my checking account again.

Apparently these bills are trying to catch up for 2 months of payments that are in arrears. He offers to bring the accounts up to date but wants to do it via a credit card.

I decline. I’m growing more suspicious of Anthem.

I mean really, if they can’t keep it straight that I’ve given them permission to take their payments right out of my checking account; this is the 4th time they’ve screwed this up since November, can I really trust them to pay for services to my Doctor?

Item Five

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The nice man tells me that one of the bills is for Dental insurance.

Uhhh, I cancelled that back in Feb. Then he explains… It’s for pediatric dentistry.

SAY WHAT? I thought that’s why my damn medical insurance when up after the fucked up implementation of Obamacare!

(I swear, if ever there was something that needed to be aborted, Obamacare fits the bill).

But since they’re sending me a bill for it separately, It occurs to me that I can refuse to pay the bill.

Item Six

As I’m thinking over this insanity It occurs to me the cost of my meds is 300 a month without insurance. If I go to Tijuana or use a Canadian pharmacy I could perhaps get my generic drugs cheaper. Even if I stayed in the American pharmacies I’d still save money.

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I wonder if I were to simply cancel the whole damn shebang and let our fucked up government BILL me for not having insurance if I’d be better off paying out of pocket.

I wonder if I can get a catastrophic policy just in case I end up in the hospital?

I find myself thinking of tropical beaches out of the US once a year taking a “Medical Vacation” to Indonesia, or Curacao.

The thought of a once a year checkup combined with warm sand and excellent diving is a cloying one.

I wonder if the math would work out.

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I’ve got till the 10th to decide what I want to do. I suppose I’ll think it over and run some math. Perhaps I’ll shop around for another private insurer who actually can keep the payment and billing straight on a month to month basis.

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I guess all this work is a good thing

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My pants fit differently.

I’ve been in motion since I got here and I suppose it’s showing in my losing a little of the gut.

I could of course stand to lose a lot more of the gut but eating healthy here is a very tough thing to do.

I’ve cooked a couple of times and since I don’t load everything up with salt my efforts haven’t been necessarily well received. 

This is southern cooking at it’s saltiest, oiliest best. Even the blooming onion at Outback seemed laden with more grease than usual.

I’ve been trying to maintain some semblance of a decent diet. Making smarter food choices isn’t exactly easy here without causing someone offense.

So I keep hydrated and keep moving. I’m hoping that the increased activity will at least balance out the calories. The only way to dilute the salt inherent in everything is plenty of water.

Even then I’m sure that I’ve consumed a years supply of salt and preservatives in the past month.

NewImageGotta say there were some nice barbecue the other night. I can’t complain too loudly.That’s going to take a good 6 months to purge from my system I’m sure!

I just learned something that should never be googled. Obese Men! OMG! 

Or maybe it should be googled and when you lose your lunch you’ll think I don’t want to ever look like that!

The picture at right should reduce your desire to claw your own eyes out.

I told you not to google “obese men” did you listen? Hell no!

I don’t know if I’d recommend tending ailing parents as a weight loss routine, but as a bootcamp it might work.

I’ll rent my folks cheap!  First come first serve.

 

 

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Who knew antibiotics could make you have bad dreams?

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The ritual of the sinus infection is in full swing.

I’m back on antibiotics. Yippeee!

Along with No booze, no sun, and being cold all the time. I have nightmares on this stuff.

It’s not monster nightmares or nightmares where you say to yourself “This isn’t real.” These nightmare are like slivers of an alternate universe. They’re the “almost” events that could happen. Last night in the dreams I was fighting with the partner and it was ugly. In the dream we said thing that we’d never say to each other.

Dreams like the ones I had last night mean I don’t get a decent nights rest.

It’s not as bad as the last time my sinuses were all nasty.

All things considered, I wish I’d not purchased health insurance and instead used that money on a vacation.

I find myself thinking that I really need to go diving.

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It’s counter intuitive as hell, but if you can stand the pressure changes and are smart about how deep you go so that you don’t damage your ears; SCUBA can cause a flushing of your sinuses the roto-rooter man would be impressed by.

It ain’t pretty but its effective.

If the water happens to be a Caribbean bay, so much the better.

Yes, guys, I’m giving you the justification to vacation in a warm tropical place. Call it “For your health” and you may even be able to write it off. Humm I wonder if I could get Obamacare to pay for the tickets?

I noticed that in the two years following my last Caribbean diving trip, I had zero trouble with my sinuses. I don’t know what the correlation is but I had happy sinuses.

I suspect it was due to flushing out of various contaminants that accumulate because I live in a dry dusty environment.

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I was built to be near the ocean. My whole physiology is configured for high humidity, warm water, and gentle trade-winds.

That’s another justification to force the other half to move to the tropics.

“But Honey, it’ll be good for our health, after all don’t you want another 20 or 30 years together?”, yeah right! By the time we’re 20 years into a relationship we’re ready to beg someone to shoot us.

Dive trip… That sounds like a plan!