The Long and Tiring Journey of Dealing With Health Insurance Companies
As told in The Devil Wears Prada GIFs
By Megan Guinane
F ull disclosure, in my drafts, there’s a very lengthy piece on my health emergency from earlier this year. It was packed with all the frightening details of my lung surgery, and the even scarier bills that followed. Instead of boring you about the importance of researching your health insurance options, I thought I should share my experience dealing with an insurance company with GIFs of the 2006 classic, The Devil Wears Prada.
When I first checked into the hospital, I kept asking if they took my insurance plan, and the hospital staff was like:
Okay, they were more like “that’s not important right now, you need these procedures to live”.
Then, while I was home recovering, I received a bill in the amount of $146,000.00
My first thought was “BUT…I HAVE INSURANCE?! It would have been cheaper to die at this rate!”
So I wrote an email asking why my bill was so high, and I basically got this reply from the insurance company:
They said they fairly covered $1,500.00 of my procedures, because I had the ”consumer choice plan” — which has a low bi-monthly payment, but a VERY high deductible. The list of doctors who accept this type of plan was pretty slim.
Before you judge me for getting the “bare bones” insurance plan, here’s live footage of me at my profession:
I don’t make enough money to pay for the big girl plan yet OKAY?!
But, I felt that I needed emergency surgery to live! Surely there had to be another way. So I decided to file an appeal.
I even had my surgeon call the insurance company to confirm he WAS a member of my consumer choice network. He told me he had once been in a similar situation with the insurance company and he knew exactly how stressed I was feeling. For a moment, I didn’t feel so alone.
Of course it’s “company policy” for all appeals to be handled via snail mail.
I had to purchase stamps for this…just…why.
After months of back and forth, I finally got confirmation that I only owed $500.00! The insurance company apologized for the inconvenience. I was like:
Not really, I was just relieved that all my pushing was worth it.
The anxiety was gone, I was free of medical debt!
When you’re off your parent’s health insurance and on your own for the first time, it can be stressful! If you are as fortunate as me to hold a job that has a benefits package, make sure you check out all of the packages that are available to you and weigh your options. Always be sure to double check your medical bills with your insurance company. Insurance companies are slow to work out our bills, so don’t pay them right away if you are unsure. Be sure to call them out if you think there is something wrong, you could be saving yourself thousands of dollars like me.
