Jun 27, 2007

A Fun Shopping Trip

Years ago, when I had my appendix taken out the insurance company didn’t pay the bill and I was sent to collections. The letter the insurance company sent me stated they weren’t paying the anesthesiologist because he wasn’t necessary. When I called the insurance company to ask them what they were thinking they clarified by telling me he and the hospital I chose to almost die at not only charged too much but were out of network. I actually had to explain in writing that I didn’t choose to have my appendix burst while out of town. Apparently, because I didn’t take an ambulance ride they had assumed I was just out shopping for hospitals and decided to pick the most expensive one in the state to almost die at for fun. What a bunch of Sickos.



I bet you have a story too…

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

My story is not really mine, but it's Sicko.

When my brother's appendix burst, he was 18 years and 2 days old. When they checked him into the hospital through the ER, while my mother was parking the car, they asked him if he was self-employed. He replied "Yes," because he gave drum lessons to elementary kids after school.

The next morning, as he was recovering from surgery and hadn't even stood up on his own yet, two women from the collections department of the hospital showed up in his room demanding to know how he was going to pay for his surgery and letting him know that he would not be able to stay another night without proving his ability to pay.

Because he was legally an adult and he had answered "Yes" to the self-employed question, they had completely disregarded pages and pages of forms my mother filled out, and all of the insurance information she provided them. My brother was still in high school and definitely still covered under my parents' health insurance.

At that time, my mother worked for the same hospital.

BoomBoom said...

Do my eyes deceive me?

Anonymous said...

No, they do not. I have always had a subscription to the Bombadee RSS feed because it's often a brilliant or interesting perspective on current events. This is just the first time I've felt my comments worth sharing.

BoomBoom said...

How nice of you to say Jane.

Truth be told, Jenny and I have had more than one conversation centered on you in recent weeks and we can't decide if your reappearance in the comments here is strangely coincidental or something more. Time will tell.

I did scan your blog last night and see all appears to be well (if not better) in the World of The Duchess. That makes me smile.

Take care.

Jenny said...

I think the lady that works at the ER desk gets trained by a demon from the 5th circle of hell, in the fine arts of prolonged suffering, apathy and knot tying with red tape.

BoomBoom said...

Our ER's customer service scores SUCK! After my car accident I was strapped to a board in a collar that dug into my head and parked in the hallway for 45 minutes while I overheard bitchy conversations about how much the nurses hated their jobs. I have yet to go an ER that would get an A+ from me.

Anonymous said...

The Universe is a funny place sometimes. I was recently "friended" on MySpace by the Divas, though I'm guessing that was part of a mass-friending of girls in Rockford my age?

All is well, though unrecognizably different, and thank you for the smile.

A few weeks ago, I watched the little tykes playing t-ball at the baseball field that is within walking distance of my new home, and my heart ached from missing Jenny as I thought about raising children in a one-avocado town without her input.

Regarding the real topic of this post, I've never been to an ER that gets a passing grade either. I have no solutions, but I'm looking forward to the movie to see what Michael Moore's suggestions include.

BoomBoom said...

The Diva's have a unique ability to pull together that which had been torn apart.

!Viva la Diva!

Anonymous said...

I shall have to come see these amazing Divas in action some day. The calendar shows only practices - I assume the schedule for matches (bouts? rumbles? rounds?) has not been released yet?

BoomBoom said...

Correct. Bouts (fingers crossed) are in queue for late fall/early winter.

One does not have to wait until then to experience the Divas if one is willing to strap on a pair of skates!

Anonymous said...

Oh my. My knee is picking up running speed lately, but I'm not sure if skates would be better or worse. I guess it would depend on the range of motion.

I would also want to verify that Jenny would be comfortable with me there.

Wait. This is just an opportunity to cream me into a giant concrete wall, isn't it? You need practice targets? ~grin~

BoomBoom said...

As far as knees, mine are in awful shape but I figure what the hell. I'll only be able to derby for so long and I am so in love with it I'm willing to put up with any adverse side effects.

As far as Jenny goes, I believe I may know the answer to that but shouldn't answer for her.

As for whether or not this is an opportunity to cream you into a giant concrete wall the answer is most definitely yes. All roller women can expect to be creamed into walls/floors/eachother quite regularly. But it doesn't mean we don't all share a "that was effing awesome" over a beer when we're done.

If you are really interested and what to know more, lets take this conversation out of Bombadee's blog. Let me know, I'm sure you know where to find me. ~wink~

Anonymous said...

Actually, I don't. The address I had was a work address, but that's all I remember. I'd have to guess and string some portions of your name together with some portions of your business.

I'm at jane at dujane dot com.

Jenny said...

Yeah, I am comfortable with that.

The actual skating part is much lower impact than running (I don't know about the falling part, but we do wear pads) and Tater Tot is right, you are most welcome.