i know, i should prolly start off by apologizin' fer a long stretch of no posts. i do apologize, but one must understand that my health has gone down the crapper in the past year. from somethin' jest aint right to holy crap....
anyhow, i've learned many things durin' this downhill slide - 1) some doc's will not and do not "think outside the box". if they don't know what's wrong with ya, they right'cha off as a hypochondriac. 2) they will not try to get'cha the help that'cha need. why? coz they think yer nuts. 3) once ya find the "right" doc's on yer own, they will do their best to get'cha well within their realm...then they jest leave ya hangin' and most won't assist ya while ya try to get yer body straightened out. yepperz, yer on yer own to pursue whatever care ya feel ya need. even if ya don't know what that is - the burden of that responsibility falls on yer shoulders. 4) they can charge whatever the heck they want. why? because they can. if ya have insurance (ya better have this coz they'll really put the screws to ya if ya don't), they will back up this provider on the ridiculous amounts that are charged. i mean, hey, they've already argued and negotiated prices in order to be "participatin' providers". supposedly to "everyone's advantage".
which brings me to my point. i was finally diagnosed proper down at scott & white in temple, tx fer one of my health hiccups. yepperz, the hubs hauled me back 'n forth that 487 miles one way from our home many times between november 2012 and february 2013. great bunch of folks their. some greater that others. they will test ya to death in order to find answers....well, some of 'em do. others exhaust their knowledge and afterwards ya end up with "unknown etiology" as yer diagnosis. which leaves ya with more questions than answers and ya have to muster up the strength to pursue it's investigation on yer own, more to that later.....
my "gripe" today, and boy do i have a big'un, is the unfair billin' practices that some places seem to be privy to. i swear, they are right up there with politicians in regards to their practices! today i've found there's not much to be done about it, so i am hopefully bringin' it to "the masses" in a prolly futile attempt to get more folks to pitch a fit. why? because it jest aint right and i know that i'm not alone in this "bein' screwed with a kiss". some say "jest leave it alone, yer into 100% coverage and yer insurance paid it all". well, does that make it right? where does this fundin' come from anyhow? ever wonder why yer insurance costs so darned much? this is why, folks! luckily (there's a pun there...), the only insurance company that would cover me is our states "high risk pool", which costs a fortune.
i had to undergo remicade iv infusions, til they made me break out in eczema anyhow. (which the 1st derm denied - 3 doc's later and 2 biopsies confirmed) i have severe crohn's throughout my entire large colon, spare the ileum. i don't have many "choices" in treatments. i have peripheral neuropathy from my first batch of doc's (another long story there to be shared another time), and now this eczema - which has "grown" from blisters/rash on the hands 'n feet in may to 80% of my entire body. that leaves me as a "undesirable participant" fer anymore biological drugs to put the crohn's into remission...
what's got my panties in a huge wad is that when i began my infusions, they cost $6100.00 each. the facility where i received these treatments was bought out my the big hospital in that town (i traveled 221 miles round trip fer these darned things as i live in a small town). no problem, same exact staff. i got this same identical treatment initially, at 2 weeks, then 4 weeks, then 8 weeks. the 1st three visits were all billed the same - $6100.00. the last visit fer the same (minus the diluted steroids, as the nurse said the hospital told 'em it was "too expensive to dilute the steroids, so it was jest shot directly into my vein - can ya say HOLY CRAP THAT HURTS?) except fer the billin'. sit down folks coz this is gonna shock ya - or at least it should. $24,109.62!!! yepperz, that's what they billed AND INSURANCE PAID IT!
i called the facility, whom put me in touch with the billin' department. who told me they had every right to bill it that way. i contacted my insurance company and they investigated it. jest got off the phone with 'em and they said, and i quote, "the 1st 3 visits were billed as office injections, the last 1 was billed as done at an outpatient facility". WTH! i explained, in great detail that it was the SAME facility, the SAME nurse, the SAME nurse practioner, the SAME treatment outside of the fact they'd gone cheap and no longer diluted the steroids and jest shot it straight into my vein. i asked this young lady from the insurance company how this could happen. i told her i understood the way insurance companies negotiate pricin' and such, i worked at our local hospital fer 16yrs and dealt with insurance companies daily.
i'm not an idiot. i know the games that are played. but to me, this is wrong on so many levels. i filed an appeal. i do NOT feel this should be legal. i will hunt down whomever i need to in an attempt to get this rectified. again, most folks would and have said, "what does it matter? yer not out anythin'..."
i've also requested itemized, in detail, from the billin' department at the hospital. i've never received anythin' from 'em. i don't understand how we, as patients, have to fight to get our records (another lengthy story, if someone reminds me, i'll tell that wicked tell). why do we also have to fight to get an itemized statement? i didn't get a thing from 'em. other places i get vague ones such as "laboratory services" - really? what labs? i want and deserve details, as does every single patient out there - regardless of who's footin' the bill. how else do we know when charges are incorrect?
why do folks tend to turn a blind eye if they don't have to pay fer it? SOMEBODY has to pay fer it.
be it in higher premiums or jest goin' without the proper healthcare (as i did fer many years coz i had no insurance, hubs kept sayin' we couldn't afford it), it's WRONG. more folks need to smack these overpriced providers. to hades with "obamacare" - fix what's not right with the medical profession.... we as "consumers" (in case ya didn't get that memo, that's what we, as patients, are these days) have the responsibility to be the "check 'n balance" as it appears that nobody else seems to give a darn.
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