Beltane and the Mesa View Moon
Thursday gratefuls: Rain. A gray Sky. Wet Lodgepole Needles. A driveway slick with Rain. Kate, always Kate. Her memory, a blessing. Jon, a memory. Gabe and Seo coming up this weekend. Leo, coming today for a long visit. My son and his wife. Murdoch. Safely in Korea. This Henry Miller chair. Pixels. Computer chips. Keyboards. Screens. Speakers and cameras. Zoom. Diane. Israel trip is on.
Sparks of Joy and Awe: Travel gettin’ real
One brief shining: Read an article about insurance companies increasing denials for claims including a job title denial nurse and I looked over at my denied claims for my radiation thinking how long can this uncertainty go on looking at the trajectory of my life, damning the American I don’t even know what to call it but health care system is not it.
Generally I sleep well. Last night though. Those damned insurance companies. Well, to be specific, Travelers and AARP Secure Advantage. Discovered I’d missed a significant increase in my home insurance. Went from $4,500 to $5,500. Came last October in the midst of the turmoil over Jon’s death. Guess I didn’t read it. Learned about it when my mortgage payments went up. Wildfire related.
AARP so called Secure Advantage sent me a nice note denying payment for my radiation. I called Urology Associates billing and Nick, bless his heart, said I was not responsible for any denied payments. Good. But. This article in yesterday’s Washington Post: Denials of Insurance Claims Are Rising-And Getting Weirder caught my attention because I read it the same day I got the note from Insecure advantage. This one is on top of the already existing hassle with Centura Health over my bone scan last August. $5,200.
What I crave is predictability. Cancer and how to treat it creates enough chaos. I don’t need to add to that wondering if my treatments will get paid for. The system is not understandable. My doctors advise me as to the best course of treatment. I follow their advice. Another layer of surveillance by me? To see if insurance company rules have been followed? But which ones? For whom? It’s. Just. Too. Fucking. Complicated.
Even though I’m not liable for the denied claims it injects a wondering about future treatments. If Insecure Advantage keeps refusing to pay, will my providers stop caring for me? Dr. Simpson, my radiation oncologist, recommended I switch back to original Medicare when the enrollment season opens up in October. He said it would be easier.
I need to compare Insecure Advantage with original Medicare. I have a good insurance agent whom I’m going to talk to. We’ll see what comes of that.
This is, I suppose, whining. But I’m not alone. No sirree. Read that WP article. Our health should not be captive to bean counters trying to maximize profits at the expense of our well-being. Should not be. However. It is.
If you read that article, you’ll find embedded in it observations about algorithms and AI being used to deny claims with no human in the stream of accountability. Welcome, my dear readers. To the future.