Hello?
Hello? Hi! May I please speak with Sophie?
This is her mother. Who may I ask is calling?
Oh, yes. I see the birthdate, here. This is Bessy from Anthem Blue Cross. I'm making a courtesy call to see whether you might like to sign up for our Case Manager Program.
You mean someone who might help me to get your company to respond appropriately to my daughter's doctor's medical orders?
No, Miz Aquino, the Case Manager can help you figure out your benefits and help to educate you about your daughter's healthcare needs.
You're kidding me right? (And now I just go into a long and boring story of how I've waited SIX WEEKS for my daughter to receive a necessary medical treatment for her seizures. Six weeks from diagnosis and doctor's orders to treatment.)
Silence.
Would you like to sign up for the program?
Bessy, I appreciate the call, but frankly I don't have one whit of faith or confidence or trust in Anthem Blue Cross to do anything in my child's best interest. If a Case Manager can help me to expedite things through your systems, that would be great, and then I'd be happy to sign up.
Well, the Case Manager can't expedite things, but she can help you help your daughter with her chronic health condition. Wouldn't you just like to place one toll-free call to her?
No, thank you.
I hung up the phone. I don't want to beat a dead horse, but who, again, complained about healthcare reform by crying SOCIALISM! and I don't want any government hack coming between me and my doctor!
Final note: Perhaps, while you're reading this, Sophie and I will be at the infusion center, getting the necessary intravenous immunoglobulin for which we've waited not-so-patiently for almost six weeks. Let's all send a message to the universe that it helps --
My husband and I have concluded 7 out of 10 Americans are stupid and or lazy. Those are the brightest and the best that cried SOCIALISM. We are so screwed.
ReplyDeleteI hope Sophie gets her treatment today.
Sending, sending, sending good thoughts.
ReplyDeleteAnd here's how cynical I am: I just hope that your "refusal" doesn't result in some sort of coverage denial. If that makes me socialist, so be it. Sticks and stones and all...
ReplyDeleteWishing, wishing you there!
ReplyDeleteBest,
Bonnie
I will visualize it , pray it , and chant it, hum it.
ReplyDeleteHoping, hoping, hoping with you. Is a case manager like a nurse advocate? In my ignorance, I would be inclined to take the offer, if only to ask each person to pass me along to her supervisor, until I got somewhere near the top. Of course, that's assuming there is someone at the top who has a working brain and some compassion.
ReplyDeleteI sure hope you Sophie is getting her treatment! It is insane that you are still waiting. :(
ReplyDeleteI actually signed up for this at one point with a different carrier. I undersood it to be someone who could help me expedite things. When she told me to stop and have a cup of tea I just about went crazy.
ReplyDeleteHoping the first infusion goes smoothly and good effects begin to manifest very, very soon.
ReplyDeleteSENDING, SENDING, SENDING.......
ReplyDeleteI swear they have computers doing those sales, because it rarely makes any sense.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry the medical reform did not go through in the USA. It is so needed, all over the world. And I know that the USA actually has one of the worst systems, not THE worst, just right down there, maybe with us in South Africa.
But I also saw that Sophie got her treatment. Good luck and best wishes with the outcome.
that is just so weird
ReplyDeleteI get those same phone calls from our insurance company about an available Case manager, and then the envelopes arrive in the mail- stuffed with brochures and letters promising help.
ReplyDeleteI'm assuming there are on-going fiscal reviews at these insurance companies and they've determined that if they could just educate these damn sick people they wouldn't cost much.