Insurance Woes

Oh insurance companies. You are the bane of my existence!

I am extremely happy and thankful to have good insurance through my husband's job. I never forget that.

Also, being on my own insurance which is abysmal makes it so damn difficult! I received 2 sets of some of the medications because my job covers some of the pills but not the injectables. In trying to figure out what happened and get my money back, I spent over an hour on the phone (at this point, still on hold.....) and spoke with 9 people, and waiting on the 10th to answer the phone.

They will hopefully take the medications back, and refund my $73.50. I can't believe I have to deal with all this for a measly $73.50! But hey, it's $73.50 and the insurance company will give me tons of shit for not taking care of it.

I have also noticed how I am treated differently, and the quality of the representatives at "mail-order pharmacy" for the different companies the insurance is through.

For example, when I call the Hubs' Insurance line at "mail-order pharmacy" there are virtually no wait times, I get a nice, very competent rep who asks me appropriate questions, pronounces medications correctly, and makes sure I am satisfied with the results.

When I call my insurance line at "mail-order pharmacy", I wait for about 15-20 on hold. Then, the rep. is confused, tries to transfer me within the first 2 minutes, says they can't do this or that, and then cannot pronounce the names of medications. But just the very uncommon ones like "hydrocodone." Seriously. I corrected her 3 times. It's phonetic.

That's just when I call the "mail-order pharmacy" line. The difference in customer care when I call the actual insurance company is HUGE. And when I try to use it at a doctor office. I get looked down upon and not treated very nicely when I just have my insurance, as if they are begrudgingly accepting me.
When I pull out the Hubs' insurance they rollllllll out the red carpet. I get "ma'am" and "yes, please. Thank you, are you satisfied" and they kiss my ass. It's nice, but not fair.

It makes me think about people who have worse insurance than my job gives us. I work for the County government, too. I happen to know that people who have more blue collar employers (ie Wal-Mart) and actually have their insurance get treated like crap. I had a client a very long time ago who worked at Wal-Mart, had their insurance, and actually tried to use it. What a joke! She would have been better off not having insurance so she could use the self-pay clinics. No kidding.

This is a serious issue that I am tired of dealing with! Why do we continue to stratify our population, and separate the "have's" from the "have-not's?"

This was not going to be a political rant, it just happened...................

Off the phone now!!!!
Total time on the phone with the "mail-order pharmacy": 1 hr. 4 min. and 57 secs.
Reps talked to: 9
Supervisors talked to: 1
Issue resolved: YES!!!!! I will be getting my $73.50 back!
Amazing Service Reps: 1, she gave me her number and stayed on the line with me through 4 transfers! So helpful and nice. Guess which insurance she comes from...................

IVF Round 2

My medications have arrived!

It's a weird feeling spending $3,322.23 and then it arrives looking like this.

S says "that sure doesn't look like 3 grand! I expected more."
And I'm like "Um.....more meds means more pain for me....."
He didn't mean it that way, I hope........

This cycle I am doing things differently as I have mentioned before. I hope something works, and it doesn't cost more than last time!

Things I am doing this time:
Meditating/Visualizing daily (free)
Acupuncture, first visit is Saturday ($75)
Acupuncture day of transfer ($50)
Massage half-way through ($45)
Tons of Vitamins (approx. $200)
Only organic food, low-carb, high-protein diet (increase of about $50 a month)
Retrieval (296.06)
Transfer (190.46)
Lab Fees (??? Last time it was almost $4000)
Other doctor fees (??? Last time it was almost $300)

Total- Approx: $8,528.75

HOLY SHIT! That is A LOT of money! But cheaper than last time! And WAAAAAYYYY cheaper than people who don't have insurance! We are really lucky S' work has good benefits!

After this cycle though our $20,000 fertility benefit is DONE, exhausted. They are kind enough to offer us a $21,000 benefit for "Centers of Excellence" which is a clinic they approve. However, the stats at the nearest clinic, 3 hours away, are not good! Their lab has terrible results, and the embryologist (ie the most important guy in the room) is not highly rated. Gee- thanks for that..............


Also, I forget about the frozen embryo's. I have in my head this is our last chance at a bio baby, but really it's not. We could have between 1-3 fro-babies to transfer in the future. That's a nice thought.......

I still think if it doesn't work (which I am not focusing on....) than we (I) will start the foster-adopt paperwork.

Frozen transfers really don't have the best success rates and it's $2500 a transfer. And the meds....GROSS!!

What all this means to you: I will not be hanging out with you(unless you come to my house) until around the first week of September. Also, we are poor.

:)