Insurance - A Lesson In Patience

This last week was a horrible exercise in mistakes made by my insurance companies.  I ended up spending hours on the phone trying to get everything fixed...and by fixed I mean, get what we should have had in the first place.

After endless hours of begging, threatening and crying, I come home to a message on my answering machine.  Vague is an understatement.  It went something like this, "This message is for...ummm...the parents...or guardians of...ummm...Jim Bob.  This is your, ummm...insurance company and we...ummm...need to talk to you.  Call us at..."  They gave me an exact phone number and extension, so I called them back.  Jim Bob (have you guessed that isn't his name?) had some medical stuff done recently and after a week of fighting the insurance company over his services I was a little leery of this new call.

When I called the number it was answered with a "hello" and not a company greeting.  Then they had no idea why I was calling because the person who might have called me, (they weren't sure) didn't work in that office, in fact they didn't even work in that state.  So I got transferred.

When I arrived at the new office in the new state, I was once again answered with "hello" and no company greeting.  Apparently I had called a back channel number and was transferred back channel as well. They couldn't even find me in their system on the first 2 attempts.  When they finally did they had no idea why I was calling them. There were no notes, no indication of a call and no reason for me to have been contacted.

So what did they do?  They transferred me to a person who would review my son's account and recent medical treatment.  Why in the world would I want them to do that?  I felt tricked into calling the insurance company to trigger a review of the services they were already paying for.  Were they crazy?

So what did I do?  I did what any other sane person would do.  I hung up during yet another phone transfer.  I figure if they really want to review the case they will call me back.  But if they are as professional the next time, they likely won't even know why they are calling me.

So here we are at the patience part.  I H-A-T-E being stuck at the mercy of others.  I was reminded of that again this week.  Who enjoys wondering what their fate will be?  Having some random person, who doesn't really care about you or your family hit a magical little button on a computer screen which can either pay or decline your medical coverage is horrible.  It is hard not to yell and scream in frustration when they confuse simple issues.

I have children, and I still think the insurance company teaches me more patience than they do.  My kids at least look me in the eyes and know when they have screwed up.

So here is my message to all the insurance companies out there.  AAAAARRRRRGGGHHHH!  Yes, that is all.