Tag: Male

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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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There are times when I just want to scream!

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And not in a good way!

I’m a bit ADD. I know, I know, that’s become an overused cliché catchall that everyone and their brother uses to excuse anything from a hangover to a stroke.

Hear me out. I’ve been like this my whole life, and for me, this is completely normal. I’ve adapted to being this way because I’ve never know any other way to be. There are times when the ADD presents challenges, loud noises, crowds, bright flashing lights, can really mess with my calm and freak me out. Most of these challenges are manageable. If I feel myself being overwhelmed I’ll find a quiet spot to collect myself and then I’m good to go.

imagesOne of the biggest challenges ADD presents me with is listening to someone talk. If they have something to say and they keep on track I’m fine. If, however, they meander and pause the main thread of their story to fill in useless details or give me background that they should have given at the beginning of the story, then I’m likely to stop listening. In the worst case, the person doesn’t notice my eyes glazing over and they keep yammering.

This is usually when the ADD becomes a real problem. I respond first with annoyance, then hostility, then outright anger. The poor fool telling me, whatever they were telling me has no idea what they’ve done wrong or why I’m pissed off.

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Believe it or not, I feel guilty when I lose control and get angry because of the way someone is telling their story. It’s not fair to the other person. As far as they’re concerned they are telling a nice coherent little tale.

To an ADD person it’s annoying tedium. I can explain, I think using the following example.

The church made, because of the rummage sale, the church made, the donations to the rummage sale this year because, because of estate donations allowed the church to make,  One estate donated a teak modern dining set that was worth about 5000 dollars it went at silent auction for 2000, it was one of those Danish modern designs, I don’t know who bought it. The usual amount that the church makes on a rummage sale is $15,000 or so. This year the church made, oh there was a lot of very nice estate jewelry some of it brought in a lot higher than expected prices. This year the church made $30,000 although the final total isn’t in yet.

The story could have been summed up simply.

The church doubled it’s usual rummage sale income this year due to a number of estate donations.

Then if I was interested I could have asked what the total dollar amount was.

benefitsadhd2To an ADD person, the story, as first presented, is like fingernails on a chalkboard. The constant teasing about how much the church actually made, is annoying as hell.

There’s another level though that’s worse for the ADD person. It’s that for every one of those pauses we pause a stream of thought and start another one. Pretty soon your 2 minute anecdote has us nearing the maximum capacity of our brain power.

Think of it like trying to compute orbital mechanics of the entire solar system and keeping all the variables in your head.

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This is, I think part of the reason we ADD folk don’t like watching the late night news, it’s the constant teasers. If the 10 o’clock news really wants to piss of the ADD crowd; tease us for an hour and then never get to the story!

“Stay tuned to find out why your penis is at risk”

The way my brain works is probably best described as a corral of skittish horses. I have tons of thoughts running all the time and it requires an effort of will to harness those thoughts, put blinders on them, and then hitch them up to the wagon of a project I’m trying to do.

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A conversation like the story above tends to have an effect on my thoughts, that’s similar to what you get if a rattle snake suddenly appears in a corral full of skittish horses. After the chaos and dust clears, you’ve got horses spread to the four corners of the corral and none of them are going to do any work for the rest of the day.

I live with a person that tells stories like the example above.  That pisses me off by itself. (Come to think of it, my stepdad tries to lecture on science and technical stuff the same way; no wonder I dreaded asking him questions when I was in school!)

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What really pisses me off is when I catch myself telling stories the same way.

My ability to write today is gone. I’m going to go outside and run the weed whacker. I will avoid holding a fluffy pillow firmly over someone’s face.