Under the heading of "News You Can Use"....

[ubiquitous_a]

Health Insurance Claim Denied? Don't Despair. Fight Back.

According to a recent report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), fighting back when you have a health insurance claim denied is well worth your time.

Michelle Andrews in Kaiser Health News explains:
The... Report found that more claims problems stemmed from annoying but often

Comments

[lickety_split]

Hmph. The fact that people have to do this at all is absurd.

And watching my aunt fighting with her insurance company every day on the phone while also fighting a losing battle with cancer was so frustrating.

[nicosian]

Yeah, I'm not sure its so simple. A friend had her baby and they've been line by line item denying coverage for it, even though it all was standard by the book no complications pregnancy and that it was also supposed to be covered. ( this woman's no fool, she checked the plan)

Over a year later,they're still duking it out. Line by line.

[homasse]

Seriously. This is patently absurd.

We need a public option just for this shit. Health care should not be something you have to fight a company for.

[brewsternorth]

+1.

[salienne]

Somewhat OT and someone on-topic, but how ironic is it that I just got off the phone with my insurance for the 3rd time in as many weeks trying to act as go-between for the hospital and the insurance so that we don't have to pay an extra $500-something, not even counting co-pays, for an ER visit and an in-network visit to an orthopedist who *shockhorror* gave me a boot for a foot injury.

Fuck the American health care system. Seriously.

(I realize this is by no means an extreme case of being fucked over, but my anecdata needed rantage space. x_x)

[lizzy_someone]

:( I'm sorry you're going through that, I hope it all works out for you.

[chikkiboo]

I used to work in the insurance-billing department of a doctor's office, and my entire job 40 hours a week was to protest denials on behalf of our patients. I'm no longer in the industry, but I'm always willing to use the experience I gained doing that to help my friends and family if they have problems understanding their medicals bills and/or getting their claims paid. This article is spot-on. It takes time and it can be frustrating, especially when you're trying to deal with it in addition to dealing with the health problems that sent you to seek treatment in the first place, but it does help a lot of the time.

[homasse]

Your case worked...asked someone who was diagnosed as anorexic...why they weighed so much?!

Excuse me, my brain just imploded at the sheer idiocy and heartlessness of that.

[romp]

I'm glad your doctor called them out. That's inexcusable.

[grace_om]

I had a claim denied for emergency treatment I received for concussion while traveling abroad. Urgent and emergency treatment while traveling out of the country were clearly stated as covered under the policy. They just denied it with no reason given. I just kept sending in completed forms and letters challenging the denial... Eventually they sent a check with a letter stating that they weren't really obligated to pay and weren't setting a precedent!

But I was on the mend and able to keep on them. It's like they count on people being unable to cope with their bullshit while gravely ill. For-profit health care...fuckers.

[romp]

Wasn't that part of Sicko, insurance employees having the job of denying as much as possible even when the procedure is legit?

[grace_om]

Yes, I think so. Their other trick is trying to find someone to sue. At least that's been my experience -- if you're treated for any kind of injury, there's all kinds of paperwork/phone calls demanding to know who's at fault.

[brewsternorth]

Yeah, I know someone who had to have physiotherapy done and automatically got the "okay, tell us who to sue" paperwork in the mail. Ridiculous.