I have come to the conclusion that I am the only one who reads this blog. That's OK. If nobody is reading, I can rant, rave, scream to the page, and I will be the only one who knows I sound like a lunatic. And I suppose lunacy is best kept private. Other people might find it disturbing.
BE WARNED.
IF YOU'RE A MEMBER OF THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY, THE FOLLOWING WILL MOST CERTAINLY OFFEND YOU. DEAL WITH IT.
Paid bills today. Right now I owe the hospital about $3,000 for a brain surgery (technically, pituitary surgery), radiation and a slew of chemicals that didn't work. I think I shall call the billing department Tuesday and ask them to put me on the life insurance plan. By that I mean, since they didn't come close to curing me, they can leave me alone until I die a slow and progressively painful death and my husband will pay them with the life insurance he collects.
Does it make sense to anyone out there that we have to pay for services that didn't work? If I take my car to a mechanic, and pay him for a service that falls apart, he has to take the car back and do it right because I've already paid him for the service. If a lawn service tears up your yard, do you pay them? So why are hospitals and doctors any different? OH, NOW I remember, they call it PRACTICING (she said, slapping her surgically invaded forehead). I guess it really doesn't matter whether or not they get it right. They get paid ANYWAY!
My hospital even has the nerve to call itself "non-profit." Right. They just spent at least six months redesigning and resurfacing and re-everythinging a damn parking lot. They couldn't even get THAT right the first time.
(Actually, I don't think there was anything wrong with the parking lot, but "non-profits" can't show a profit, so they have to spend it on something, right?)
Now, they're having such fun collecting from me and my insurance company, they want to send me to ANOTHER hospital that they think can help me. They should have told me in the beginning, "We don't deal with this disease often enough to be effective. We think you should go somewhere that is better equipped to handle this case." But no. They sucked up all the resources I have, and NOW they want me to go to either Mayo or Vanderbilt University. Hell, there's room enough for everybody on this gravy train, right?
Wrong. I can't afford the bills I have now, and I don't intend to pile more onto my debt load to pay more medical professionals who may or may not be able to find their asses with both hands. While insurance may cover the medical stuff (as long as the insurance company considers it "reasonable and customary,") it will not cover the cost of getting there, or the cost of a motel room for my husband for GOD knows how long while a bunch of doctors and med students stand around scratching their heads. Oh, and when the insurance company pays the amount that it does consider reasonable and customary, I'M responsible for any amount over that, but you don't know what's reasonable and customary until you get your EOB from the insurance company and the bill from the hospital/doctor/lab/insert your own health service provider here. Now, if my insurance company pays what's reasonable and customary, why am I charged for what's unreasonable and not customary?
What a racket.
I think next time I see a doctor, I'll just sit on the table, tell them to stick a toothpick in my belly button, and if it comes out clean, I'm done.
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