Crooked! How do they sleep at night?

[Turd Ferguson]

I am a married college student who mountain bikes and takes part in other dangerous activities.  Because of this, I pay good money for health insurance.  The policy I have is supposed to be from a reputable company and it is very good coverage.

I found out a few months ago why I've been pee'ing blood for 3 years.  I have kidney cysts and my urologist is pretty sure it's cancerous, though I'm certainly not dying or anything.  I have to get regular CT scans to keep an eye on things and they are thinking about cutting me up next year.  Thank goodness I have insurance, right?

I get a letter in the mail today from the Imaging Center saying that my insurance has denied my CT scan and I now owe $4,712.  WHAT?  I've been on the phone with the insurance people a bit this morning (pissed), so we'll see how it goes.

A guy gets potentially ill and they drop his ass like a bad FU@#$%@ HABIT!

It's going to be a beautiful day.

-Turd.

[natedawg120]

Yeah insurance sucks.  If you pay and you are healthy they are ok but when anyone ESP a doctor thinks you might have cancerous cysts and you have to be scanned a lot, $$$$$, then they drop you or raise the rates ALOT.  that is why i love being a state emplyee.......

I hope that you catch a break man cause all that crap sucks, best of wishes,

~Nate

[metallic5spd]

sorry to hear, i know how you feel.... my gf has Cyctic Fibrosis.  A lil over 120G a year for her weekly med's ONLY, not including doc visits or anything else.  When are stupid a$$ governor dropped BCMH (bureau for children with med handicaps) for A LOT of people in ohio, sh was getting bills for like 20 - 30G's a month.....  they said her dad makes too much money, he makes like 75G a year for 5 people living in the house. bu they got it all straightened out and she got her money back.  But i hope yours turns out this good in the end.  we had o go to the state capital and Buddha Loves You Buddha Loves You Buddha Loves You to get it straightened up, it happend to HUNDREDS of kids in ohio... really sucked, feel sorry for the unlucky ones.  so all i can say is Buddha Loves You Buddha Loves You Buddha Loves You, has always worked for me.... lol

[Turd Ferguson]

Thanks gents!  I'd rather pay a lawyer $5,000 than fork over a dime to those bastages.

-Turd.

[Turd Ferguson]

sorry to hear, i know how you feel.... my gf has Cyctic Fibrosis.  A lil over 120G a year for her weekly med's ONLY, not including doc visits or anything else.  When are stupid a$$ governor dropped BCMH (bureau for children with med handicaps) for A LOT of people in ohio, sh was getting bills for like 20 - 30G's a month.....  they said her dad makes too much money, he makes like 75G a year for 5 people living in the house. bu they got it all straightened out and she got her money back.  But i hope yours turns out this good in the end.  we had o go to the state capital and Buddha Loves You Buddha Loves You Buddha Loves You to get it straightened up, it happend to HUNDREDS of kids in ohio... really sucked, feel sorry for the unlucky ones.  so all i can say is Buddha Loves You Buddha Loves You Buddha Loves You, has always worked for me.... lol

Wait...shaZam!.  You made me feel bad for bitching.

-Turd.

[metallic5spd]

hell no, i would be bitching like crazy over that if it was me... yah it sucked for my gf, but i helped Buddha Loves You...  he he he, i like doing it to get stuff right that really got f'ed up...

[pandy]

When it comes to medical insurance, don't ever take their denial as the final word. I've found that insurance companies OFTEN deny appropriate, necessary, and fully-covered medical treatment as a routine part of their "paperwork." I've had to hire an attorney and FIGHT for my medical care in more than one instance. Insurance companies deny, and they hope that their customers will either go away and/or die before they have to pay out. Unfortunately, and so very sadly for some people, the customers DO go away. They figure that if the insurance company says no, then they must be SOL.

Do not give up. Appeal, appeal, appeal. I've been almost 100% successful in winning against the insurance game, and where I've "lost," it's because I've decided that I preferred to get treatment first and fight them later. Insurance companies hope that we'll be too weak to fight them (when better to deny us than when we're sick, weak, and will have a hard time fighting).

Yes, it's evil, but don't forget for one second that insurance is a business. They don't give a flyin' frig about your health or about whether you live or die.  They care about what stays in their pockets.

Yes, I'm cynical, but I've been there done that FAR too many times not to be, and BOY does it tick me off.

Don't give up, Turd. Fight them. If necessary, have your wife help you as your advocate, because sometimes, we get to a point where we ARE too sick, weak, or just plain tired to fight for our health ourselves. I know you're strong, tough, and pissed now, but insurance red tape has a way of wearing us down. 

[Chilly Willy]

Turd,

I don't have anything to add to the excellent suggestion above, but I wanted to let you know that I'm sorry to hear about your cysts.  Definitely fight those insurance jerks and focus on getting healthy!

Chilly Willy

[natedawg120]

Turd,

I don't have anything to add to the excellent suggestion above, but I wanted to let you know that I'm sorry to hear about your cysts.  Definitely fight those insurance jerks and focus on getting healthy!

Chilly Willy

+1

[CirclesCenter]

When it comes to medical insurance, don't ever take their denial as the final word. I've found that insurance companies OFTEN deny appropriate, necessary, and fully-covered medical treatment as a routine part of their "paperwork." I've had to hire an attorney and FIGHT for my medical care in more than one instance. Insurance companies deny, and they hope that their customers will either go away and/or die before they have to pay out. Unfortunately, and so very sadly for some people, the customers DO go away. They figure that if the insurance company says no, then they must be SOL.

Do not give up. Appeal, appeal, appeal. I've been almost 100% successful in winning against the insurance game, and where I've "lost," it's because I've decided that I preferred to get treatment first and fight them later. Insurance companies hope that we'll be too weak to fight them (when better to deny us than when we're sick, weak, and will have a hard time fighting).

Yes, it's evil, but don't forget for one second that insurance is a business. They don't give a flyin' frig about your health or about whether you live or die.  They care about what stays in their pockets.

Yes, I'm cynical, but I've been there done that FAR too many times not to be, and BOY does it tick me off.

Don't give up, Turd. Fight them. If necessary, have your wife help you as your advocate, because sometimes, we get to a point where we ARE too sick, weak, or just plain tired to fight for our health ourselves. I know you're strong, tough, and pissed now, but insurance red tape has a way of wearing us down. 

My mom works for a insurance company in the software testing department.

Stuff gets effd up all the time.

Just stick to the guns.

[trumpetguy]

Stuff like this always makes me question (AGAIN) why the USA is the only industrialized nation without guaranteed health care for its citizens.  Why should there be a profit motive in health care?  The profit motive is supposed to encourage efficiency and lower costs, but we spend more per person on health care than anyone!  At the same time, some 46 million of us aren't covered at all, meaning that the amount spent on those who are covered is outrageous.  And we are no longer near the top of the list in life expectancy or infant mortality.  It's hard to rationalize that we have "the best health care system in the world."

Turd, good luck fighting the pricks who denied this.  I spent hours trying to get some testing for my wife paid for (they claimed the blood work was sent to an "out-of-network" lab by my doctor's office).  After I argued and got the run-around through several people, I found the lab listed as a network provider on my insurance company's own website.  Then they said, "oh, so it is," and it was covered.

I'll take my chances in a system where everyone has care, even if that means I have to wait for that care at times.  Why is my life and health more important than anyone else?

I can't wait for Michael Moore's new movie...

[Turd Ferguson]

Thanks for the kind and helpful responses, everyone!

Indeed, the US health care system is totally effed.  The drug industry is the worst of it all.  The lack of human compassion to earn a bottom line proffit makes me freakin dizzy to think about.

-Turd.

[Egaeus]

We have the greatest health care in the world for those who can afford it.  If you can't, well, you're not important anyway.  You don't deserve to live.

[pantablo]

turd, sorry to hear about your health and insurance issues. Keep yelling at them. they should pay. I've also had my share of issues with med insurance. Rememer that even your doctors fee is negotiable...if they're sticking you with $5,000 bill that means the insurance company was probably only going to give them $1500 or something rediculously low like that.

Keep your chin up.
next time dont wait 3 years to get a difinitive answer if you're peeing blood. One thread here would have answered your question-seriously.

[Turd Ferguson]

As you might remember, I am an avid bicyclist like you used to be.  My "stellar" doctor chalked my bloody pee up to my bicycling.  He claimed that hard work outs were causing me to burst blood vessels in my kidneys and that it was pretty normal.  He claimed "I see it all of the time in atheletes."  While that may be true, it wasn't so true for me and he never really cared to look into it more.  Finally, a bunch of blood and pain in my left kidney got bad enough that I skipped his crappy office and went straight to a urologist who immediately had me in a CT machine.

-Turd.

[pandy]

Rememer that even your doctors fee is negotiable...if they're sticking you with $5,000 bill that means the insurance company was probably only going to give them $1500 or something rediculously low like that.

If a doctor is contracted with an insurance company, they CANNOT charge you more than what they've billed the insurance company (other than your co-pay). If a doc tried to charge you above and beyond what they bill the insurance company, immediately report this to your insurance provider and the insurance commissioner who oversees your carrier...and any other damned entity you can think of. And it would probably be a good idea to change docs. 

Now, there are some docs that get around this by saying that they don't accept your insurance, BUT that they bill your insurance carrier as a courtesy to you. DANGER, WILL ROBINSON. So they bill the insurance company $1,200.00 and then send me a bill for $10,000.00? I think not! I've always found a doc in network, and I've never had to pay above and beyond the co-pay.