Insurance Hell

There are a bunch of things in life that make me cringe just at the thought. Going to the dentist, tax returns, moving, going through security at LAX or JFK, etc. These things make me cringe because they are, in one way or another, painful. It's either physically painful or figuratively painful, and usually very time-consuming. Few things upset me more than having to deal with healthcare-related paperwork. To be clear, I am very thankful to have health insurance. Many Americans don't. The system is totally screwed up. Recently, there have been some health issues that we've had to deal with, and I just have no idea what we would do if we didn't have insurance. Not to mention that Labor and Delivery at Cedars Sinai cost $20,000 bucks - with insurance, we only paid $400! If we didn't have insurance, I would have been on www.howcast.com and wikipedia, learning how to deliver a baby! As usual, I digress.

My brother Timmy and sister-in-law Judy graciously came over to help out with Lina today so that Liz and I could take care of some stuff. Not go to dinner or to a movie. All we wanted to do was catch up on every day life, maintenance tasks, that we have neglected for a while. Liz went to CVS and Ralph's while I stayed home to finally look through some unresolved insurance paperwork. Basically, United Healthcare insurance has not reimbursed us for the Ob-Gyn services, which are pretty pricey. It's not like L&D, but it's no small amount. I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND INSURANCE STATEMENTS. Maybe I'm stupid or just really slow, but I have never been able to read an insurance account statement and really understand it. First of all, the information is not presented in any real order. Secondly, they use really long indecipherable canned phrases to explain why did not process certain claims. There are too many columns with with confusing titles and numbers in them that don't seem to add up. Successive statements have redundant claims, but unless you read the explanation, it's hard to determine what's being repeated due to "updated information" for the said charge, and which one's are actually new charges. It's terribly frustrating. Then there's the insecurity of never knowing whether faxed or mailed claims ever really make it through the process.

Then I think about my parents and other immigrants from their generation. If you never mastered the language, how on earth can you navigate the confusion that is America's healthcare system and insurance system. I think I read and speak English pretty well. Yet, I am so constantly confused and disheartened by the documentation around healthcare. I can't even begin to imagine the challenge for a non-native speaker and immigrant. How unfriendly the whole experience must be.

I haven't even begun to talk about FSA - Flexible Spending Accounts. What a waste of my time on so many levels! Yeah, the pre-tax thing is nice, but I'm starting to think that all the time I waste on validating rejected charges, and all the time wasted with it hanging over my head, makes it not worth it.

Tomorrow I am going to call the insurance company and find out why they did not approve the claims for the OB-GYN. I hope they don't push back, or I am going to be really pissed...