Just this week - I got two bills in regards to our son, Brextin - who has been an angel for at least 4 months. We had BCBS over one year ago - and just this week - I got a bill from them indicating that they over paid us - Mind you - this is "one year ago" and now they want $1500 in 15 days or we are being sent to the collection agency.
Plus we got a bill from the center in which we got our medical supplies from (Apria) - they now claim we owe them $71 for syringes - really - if they would have told me in advance that they were not covered under both of our insurance companies I would have sought out medical supplies from some place else (possibly ebay) (this is where I first got his feeding tubes)
They were sending me 4 syringes at a time - then one day the operator told me they could send me as many as 15 - I made certain to ask - now these will be covered correct - and she stated they would be - so I gave her the go ahead of sending them.
When you feed a child via a feeding tube - you need to have a ton of syringes since this is the ONLY way you are able to get food into their bellies - we were using olive oil on the syringe to make them last longer - but by getting more of them - caused life to be a little easier - but for $71.00 - I could have continued to use the olive oil and lived with it. Plus this bill is only for January - so I am sure more bills are on their way - URGH!!
I HATE insurance companies! I'm so sorry you're having to deal with this. Somehow insurance issues (ie. non coverage) always stress me out big time.
ReplyDelete...danielle
Dear Randi,
ReplyDeleteI just read your letter to the editor in the Leader-Telegram (http://www.leadertelegram.com/opinions/letters_to_editor/article_1aba6a36-ed28-5795-8e28-aa86f1c7ebb3.html).
I wanted to post this to say thank you for sharing your story. I cannot even begin to imagine your loss or understand your pain.
It sickens me to think about the amount of time your family must have spent worrying and battling with insurance carriers instead of being able to put that time into your son and your family. We need more people with your courage and strength to tell people the immoral reality of how we treat and value those who are ill.
I don't know if in Brextin's case a different insurance system would have made the difference in life or death, but no one deserves to be treated the way you were. No one should be forced to decide if they can afford the medical treatment that will allow their child to smile.
Though no mere words can give true comfort, I want you to know that you are in my heart.