On February 7, 2019 at 09:40, Fins said...
This morning I had a follow up appointment with the sleep specialist. Their office is an hour and 20 minutes from my home, and I’m missing about 3 hours of work by the time it’s all done. I walk in the PA’s office and he already had the data from my machine (it uploads to them by cell service). He has the tech make a change to the settings, but tells me if I have problems to call because they can change it remotely. I’m out of his office in under 5 minutes. The entire thing could have been handled over the phone. But they couldn’t bill BCBS a couple hundred bucks and get me for a co-pay that way.
I’m ready for the revolution
The insurance company will low-ball them, they'll negotiate and by the time they're done, the Dr will get what they wanted and the only one who's inconvenienced is you.
Do they know how long it takes for you to drive there? If not, I would make it abundantly clear that it's costing you money, wasting time and if they make you drive there for a 5 minute tweak, you should find a way to get the Dr to talk about AV, so you can bill them for a consultation.
It's the medical insurance industry that's f#cking this up- they're the ones who deny coverage, cause doctors and hospitals to jack up their rates because the insurers will grind them on cost and if they disappeared, everyone would have to do their own admin or hire someone to do it, but whoever it is, they should have absolutely no control over what's covered and what's not. The medical industry wants to treat people but insurers deny coverage for conditions that the patient may have no control over (unlike some, which require a lifestyle change to prevent or reduce). Also, insurers should have covered preventive measures, but they resisted for decades.
Send a bill for your time and vehicle expense- it will, at least, start the conversation about how this should have been handled.
