The Anthem of Woe

On my third try of the week, I finally reached a human being in the grievance department of Anthem Blue Cross. While the new medication that Sophie is on has been approved by the insurance company, it is not on the formulary (spell-check does not recognize this word which leads me to believe that it's bullshit), so we must continue to pay 50% of the cost of the drug. How and why the insurance company decides what drugs go on the formulary (formulaic, formulated, formidable, formatively) is dark territory indeed, and after today's conversation, I am no closer to understanding anything. I remained civil -- in words, not in thoughts -- and impressed upon the agent how important this was to us and that I found the arbitrariness of the decision hard to understand but she only stated over and over I understand your frustration ma'am, but the grievance department can only make these decisions and you can't speak directly to the grievance department but must wait for their decision and they have thirty days but I can tell you that you will not succeed because you can't just put drugs on the formulary.


Remember the movie Brazil?

Terry Gilliam, the creator and director of the movie said I've always had a great distaste for authority and bureaucracy and all the additives that they breed.


I suppose I will continue to find my solace in poetry.