So, we are SUPPOSE to keep our stress down. We got a letter from our insurance company a few months ago saying they wouldn't reimburse for ___________ Labs anymore. I had just started with a new primary who has their own lab. Never thought a thing of it.
So she has been great, and had a physical, then some problems (blindness, palate of my mouth blistering and becoming infected, normal day for me), and she runs alot of tests, etc. I had told her we didn't have the money for me to be doing alot of this because I haven't been able to work in so long, so I stretched the tests out over a three-month period of time, and yesterday finally had the mammogram and bone density test.
So I come home and in the mail is this huge bill for the culture for the HSV-1 herpes virus mouth ulcers she nailed on the first visit (only been seven years of complaining of waking up with blood in my mouth, docs would look and shrug their shoulders). And its from ______________ Labs, the one my insurance won't pay for anymore.
I absolutely went into panic mode. This bill was from 5/9/07 and let's see there's been the specialized pap for my DES in utero exposure, two thyroid testing panels, urinalysis, brain MRI, mammogram, bone density, etc. etc.
Well, first off, the billing clerk this morning was fantastic. I told her there wasn't one single sign in their lab saying they were affiliated with ____________ Labs, so I had no idea. She was great. Called me back and said that I shouldn't have even gotten the bill.
I had emailed my insurance company, and they came back and said they had worked out the problem with _________ Labs and were covering them again, we just hadn't been notified yet.
So, if I go into a flare because of stress, I did it to myself because I absolutely was terrified of thousands of dollars of tests not being paid for, which is insane because if I had a drop of faith, I would have freedom of fear from finances.
So, it turns out the doctor's office hadn't properly billed the insurance company which resulted in the lab sending me a bill because they hadn't been paid in 60 days, and the insurance company is paying for everything after all and I will only have the usual 10% co-pay, and all is well, except for the heart attack I almost gave myself.
And I am grateful I have the coverage to be able to even be seen by a medical doctor. I could be in deepest Africa or in the ghettos of America and no care at all. I really need to work on my attitude of gratitude.
The end.
Happy to hear they will pay it, Cathy. Now that you posted and got it all out of your system, just let it go and maybe you will not flare from it. Think happy thoughts... like how you finally were able to find out why you woke up with blood in your mouth. That's a big + right there.
In all the years I have been covered under hubby's job health insurance, we have never had to pay one cent for blood work nor x-rays or anything like that. But if I do have to get an MRI on my neck like my GP suggested if this muscle relaxer does not work it out, then I will have to pay I think 15%, not sure. Been a couple of years since I looked at how our insurance worked.