Releasing the hounds … yet again. In no particular order but all medical related. Stop now if med stuff is TMI. Voyers welcome. I’m a nut.
You might remember my CT that was denied, then approved, then completed on 3/25/22 turned out to cost $592 out of pocket. My early ciphering was off making the no insurance cost of $790 more than for those with insurance. Still a scam with the un/underinsured bearing the brunt of the house of cards that is health insurance.
The CT found a lil something insignificant … a dilated vein which is why PCP referred me to a vascular surgeon. I had that appointment on 4/7/22. And reflected on it yesterday. Oh and my hernia is still there even if not remarked upon in this CT. I was told they just don’t go away. Small hernias show on almost any CT but there’s nothing to do for them unless, they get big. If the hernia is bad enough my stomach would be displaced but it isn’t. Do I believe them? No because my tummy hurts dammit. Equally renal cysts can cause no pain but there they are … a whole colony. Yep I’m making stuff up = MSU. Who knows if cysts form colonies? Sound good though don’t it?
Well the vein place called me back because they want my money. Doh! Because they want to help me. Do you have a driver? Uh ya. B said just do it, so I’m having the test done. Worried about yet another set of x-rays via the venogram and an IV that my one good vein may not take. But per the surgeon, this test is the only way to rule out pelvic congestion syndrome (PCS). Every CT for the last 5 years mentions it. Guess ruling out PCS is a good thing.
I called Aetna. Will you cover this? They look and tell me nothing was submitted yet. Then she went on a diatribe that anything more than ultrasound or basic x-ray needs pre-auth and yes it will be expensive if they sedate me. I wanna be sedated (ear worm). I don’t really wanna be sedated but oh well what the hell. I half snark tell her in 12 years, my CTs were never pre-auth until 2022 but I’ll play your game and call the vein place back.
Spoke to vein place. They got me on the schedule as of our earlier phone call. Two others ahead of me based on time submitted but she would start working to get the insurance part done for me after since first in first out. I told her about the pre-auth. She scoffed and agreed to call me back with a status. Which she did about 45 minutes later.
Sure enough, as I suspected, this venogram passed with flying fucking colors. NO pre auth NEEDED. Here when I maybe want insurance to say really? A minimally invasive procedure to rule out what you know is highly unlikely? But nope, right through the pipeline. So much for anything more than ultrasound or basic x-ray require a pre-auth. Instead the nonsense I had with the prior CT denial was the random, we deny every 10 or so to save the company money. And whether true or not, I do not know. This rant is purely my opinion.
Ugh! Analysis paralysis. I don’t wanna but I’m gonna. I hope the awful phone answering during my exam PA is not who runs my test. But my luck, well ya never know.
As always, more to come.
J-Dub's Grin and Bear It 