Tuesday, April 24, 2012

you may find this amusing

Those of you with private insurance have undoubtedly experienced some hassles and headaches.
Rest assured, public insurance (BadgerCare/Medicaid in my case) can be every bit as bad.
I paid the annual fee of $60 online 3/21, and immediately received a confirmation email.
My online bank statement confirmed this confirmation. . .it was all very confirming.

But then a couple weeks later i received notification from the state that my renewal was DENIED;
the reason given was that i had failed to pay said annual fee.  So i called up the toll-free number,
and after waiting a while (forced to listen to the same instrumental song over and over) i got to
speak to a human being.  First he requested the aforementioned confirmation number, which i was
able to provide with all due haste.  Then i waited for a minute or so while he did something at his
computer.  Then he said i would need to send in a copy of my bank statement, showing the $60
charge.  Wanting to just get off the phone and get this %$#@ taken care of, i didn't bother to question
why on Earth this would be needed, i politely bade him farewell and complied with the request.
I believe that was Wednesday, April 11th.  Of course, my anti-depressant prescription was due to be
picked up at the pharmacy a couple days later, and i had only enough to get through Saturday or Sunday.
(And the regular price for the script is in the neighborhood of $250 -- about $4 per 150mg Effexor.)

So Monday i went to the pharmacy drive-thru with improbable and unmerited optimism; naturally,
The State had not yet received/processed/whatever the copy of my bank statement i'd sent in.
So i came home and called them up again, then got on Walgreens' website pharmacy chat. . .

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <noreply@walgreens.com>
Date: Mon, Apr 16, 2012 at 4:08 PM
Subject: Your Transcript
To: 1corinth1 at gmail dot com

Hi! My name is Ashley C., Pharmacy Technician. How may I help you?
Customer: Hi. I was just at the drive-through a few minutes ago. My name is Michael A Schmidt.
Ashley C., Pharmacy Technician: I'm happy to assist you.
Customer: My Rx was coming up at regular price because my insurance was denied/expired: BadgerCare.
Ashley C., Pharmacy Technician: I'll be happy to check on it for you. May I have the prescription number?
Customer: I'm on the phone with the people @ BadgerCare and they're telling me it should be active and functional.
Customer: 0819054-04556
Ashley C., Pharmacy Technician: Thank you.
Ashley C., Pharmacy Technician: Please hold for one moment while I research the information to assist you.
Customer: Of course. Thank you.
Ashley C., Pharmacy Technician: I apologize but I just resubmitted the prescription to Badger and we are still receiving a rejection.
Customer: Ack. OK, they said it may take 24 hours for their system to update or whatever. In the meantime, because I took the last of my pills yesterday, could I stop in for an emergency supply?
Ashley C., Pharmacy Technician: You could purchase some out of pocket but you may want to check with Badger first to see if they would reimburse you for the cost.
Customer: I'm pretty sure they wouldn't -- or if they did, considering how long their renewal process is taking (I paid them online 3/21), they would probably cut a check to my grandchildren. And I don't even have a child yet! :)
Ashley C., Pharmacy Technician: I apologize for that. How many would you like to pick up?
Customer: I'm sure 4 would suffice, that would get me through tomorrow. Then if they STILL haven't got their system updated, I'll call my congresspeople and every other public servant I can get a hold of!
Ashley C., Pharmacy Technician: Ok, I will make a note for the pharmacist and expect that will be ready in about an hour. Also we will continue to attempt billing.
Customer: I thank my Lord and Saviour for the patience and pacifism with which he's blessed me...these days it's no wonder when somebody goes bonkers and shoots up a gov't agency or some such.
Customer: That's excellent, I'll be there in about an hour then.
Ashley C., Pharmacy Technician: You're welcome and be well. Thank you for chatting with us and have a great day!
Customer: Is there any way you could email me or give an automated call if/when the insurance does go through as it should?
Ashley C., Pharmacy Technician: Yes, you will also most likely get a call in the next couple of hours letting you know that it has been delayed since I just resubmitted it.
Customer: OK, great. Thank you so much for your assistance.
Ashley C., Pharmacy Technician: You're welcome and have a good day.
Thank you for using InstantService. You may now close this window.
[i actually typed some more stuff, which i'm sure was witty and quite unlike anything those Pharm. Techs ever see in chat, but once they close it out on their end that stuff just vanishes.  posterity's loss, i s'pose.]

It gets even worse, because not only did i have to pay $16+ for those 4 pills, but when i called The State 24 hours later (when their system was to have been updated), i spoke to a different representative who apparently knew a bit more about the system, telling me it actually takes "up to 72 hours" to update!

Just when the entire situation appeared to have reached the absolute worst point, this rep called back to tell me that he was very sorry because he'd forgotten it was possible to go into the system and manually change the date of service renewal (to a past date, for instance a day or two prior), and he did just that while on the phone.

In all my years, this was the only instance i can recall of things TRULY being "darkest just before the dawn."  I'm a man who has been awake and near a window MANY TIMES in the hours and minutes leading up to the dawn, and NEVER has that period of time been NEARLY as dark as the hours and minutes directly opposite the dawn (when the sun is directly opposite the point on Earth where i am located, i.e. the middle of the night).  Maybe Southeastern Wisconsin is one of those places on the planet which is somehow an exception to the stupid expression.  But i suspect it's more likely that some fool created that phrase in an effort to make people feel better when they are suffering.  It has never provided me with an iota of comfort, but always provided me with an immeasurable quantity of annoyance, given its obvious vacancy of reason.

(Little surprise then, that i chose this email address and the following signature:)

--
Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.  For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:  That no flesh should glory in his presence.

1 Corinthians 1:25-29 (KJV)

No comments: