Just when I thought my anger was gone! I am supposed to go in tomorrow for day 3 U/S and B/W. I have waited (what seems like forever) to start IVF. I finally change insurance this month (and pay a lot of money to have it). Last Wed (2.2.11) I called up the clinic's financial person who is assigned to me and give her my new insurance number and she gave me---attitude. I had a bad feeling about her attitude from the start of the interaction. I hear nothing from her and assume that we are good to go. I knew day 1 was coming, I had not heard from her so I give her a call on Tuesday (2.6.11)..and leave her a message. I also decided to speak with someone else in finance just to make sure that something is under way as far as pre-approvals go. When I spoke with the financial person she pulled me up in the computer and said, "No, there is nothing in here, are you sure you don't have the same insurance?"---for real? She assured me she would email my financial rep and look me up on the insurance website to see if my name is there (what she was going to do with that information, don't know).
I let Wed go, as to not be a pest, and then this AM I called and left another message. Remembering I am supposed to be in there tomorrow at 7am to start the cycle before the IVF cycle---which I will tell you about if I get my instructions tomorrow. Anyways, I got busy at work and didn't get the change to call anyone until 4:15, at which time I decide to call the insurance company directly, hoping for the best---but. The very nice insurance rep (who knew they were so helpful) said that he would reach out to the financial person himself, he puts me on hold and he gets her voice mail. He was so great he said that the B/W will be fine, but the ultrasound definitely needs pre-approval--not to mention an insurance company does not like to be left out of the loop--this isn't just an ultrasound, it is the pre-pre- pre-pre-pre IVF ultrasound.
The insurance rep was so great he told me that sometimes it is possible to get pre-approvals after the appointment is complete and he would call my financial person as soon as he got to work tomorrow and tell her to submit it! I don't think she is going to be happy that I circumvented her, but I am not happy she ignored my pre-approval need.
My plan is to go to the clinic tomorrow and speak to the nurse (and I think a financial person is there too). My hope is that they will at least take the blood and then work on the getting the pre approval and I can always come back on Sat for the ultra sound---or later in the day on Friday.
My point is, if my cycle gets canceled for a medical reason it is one thing, for a phone call that needed to be made for pre-approval--not okay! I would do all the financial stuff myself, but the clinic we goes do, has a financial dept that handles it. It's not as if I can pay out of pocket either, even if I was willing to. This is part of the IVF process, this is why I had to wait out this month and not start before the insurance kicked in for February (because insurance companies can deny stuff if you start before they are involved). The bright side is, if this is the only thing that is a glitch in the whole process, then I will consider myself lucky. On the other hand, if this is an indication of how things...(oh, wait, I am not even going to consider that).
The interesting part of this is when I vented to my husband he was so mad, he was all fired up and ready to call the doctor. The doctor, of all people. It is funny because that is the opposite of his personality. I think it just gave him something to fix and have some control over. He kept saying, this is stressful and emotional enough, they don't need to make it worse. It is one of the few times I have even heard him have emotion over this. My hero. I would hate to be the person he gets on the phone tomorrow if I don't get this U/S done. I keep reminding him, these are going to be our post-retrieval baby sitters, tread lightly.
My hope for today is....tomorrow goes smoothly and nothing gets delayed due to insurance technicalities.
I am a 35 (almost 36) year old with a supportive and loving husband and one fabulous golden fur-baby! After many failed IUI's and a fresh IVF cycle ending in ectopic---We had a successful FET. 40 weeks of disbelief later we are parents to a beautiful baby girl--every moment I spend with our baby reminds me of how blessed and lucky we are. ...read at your own risk. Of course not one thing I write is meant to offend or upset anyone.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.