Tuesday, January 15, 2013

More insurance problems...


Yesterday, my orthopedic hand surgeon was ready to do my hand surgery for my right hand basilar joint arthritis as he had done for my left one, eleven and a half years ago, but on this right side I also have an ulnar nerve impingement that needed to also be repaired as well. Actually, both problems have been with me for all these years… The reason, which I have mentioned before that I didn’t have my right taken care of is because the total process takes about four months before you have full use again and I am right handed. Oddly enough at the time I was putting together a golf tournament for the Arthritis Foundation and my elbow problem was called, golfer’s elbow, but I don’t golf, only used to go to miniature golf and once as a moony-eyed preteen and I caddied for an older guy of fourteen, a crush, at a hotel that I was staying at with my parents in the Catskills. Any-who, the concept of me having golfer’s elbow was silly to me, but that electrode test proved it; it affects your ring finger and pinky from your elbow down. I was given a shot and brace and I went to occupational therapy I think. When my left hand had been through a few braces and definite occupational therapy at a function for AF I sat next to a doctor who told me looking at my brace that my problem that had been with me for a year and half at that time could be fixed in surgery in about a half an hour! WOW! And so I found my doc who specialized in orthopedic hand surgery and he just so happened to also be Johns Hopkins trained, Dr’ Stephen Helgemo. http://www.floridahandcenter.com/about He scheduled me but said that my right was just as bad as my left and once the procedure was explained to me I said that I would wait on my right and at the same time he said he could take care of right ulnar nerve issue at the same time… that was way back in August of 2001. You see at the time the surgery wasn’t that long,a half an hour, but the recuperative time was. First you got a piano brace for ten days after the surgery while the incisions healed and then the stitches were removed, and after that you were put into a cast for another six weeks and once the cast came off you were given occupational therapy for another six weeks! They have been doing this surgery for fifty years the same way…since it works, although, yesterday the doctor said that the cast is now only for three weeks and the OT is for only a month! Five weeks less which means a lot when your stronger appendage will be out of commission, but now they use this thingamajig called a cold system that goes under your brace and cast to help with the pain and hooks up to some type of machine that you need to be on for 24/7, for a month and insurance would not pay the $85 fee, as well as receiving heavy duty pain meds. For all this eventual, ability to be able to use my scooter button without crossing over to use my left hand, causing me many more spasms… the price with my crappy insurance turns out to be nearly four thousand dollars out of pocket including for doctor, surgery, equipment, anesthesiologist, OT etc. with my two thousand dollar deductible and my now 30%mine/70% theirs, split for everything else! We walked out of the doctor’s office with anger over my idiotic insurance situation. Apparently, when the New Year arrived they not only raised our premiums from $376 month to $432 a month they also took our 20% ours/80% theirs with their generous to them increase! And so today I Googled once again other co-pay surgery relief organizations, most were for life and death situations as I was very happy to see, but for me and my itsy bitsy frivolous problem, to me, not really folks. They were few and far between, although, I have one that took all my information and said they would get back to me within three business days: http://www.copays.org/ We still have a few other possibilities, but they all have to do with non-interest paying off of the total amount and we are still paying off Hubby’s oral surgery and his million dollar smile, but actual cost was much less, but worth every penny. On that note of being in insurance limbo on taking care of one of my many surgical issues I still have to have, and each I would be responsible for that 30%, let’s not forget that (note to self), allow me to be the first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask all of you to count all your blessings and share all your overages with you know who and we will too! And next time please be here or be square, ya hear?! PS tonight I was late due to technical difficulties with our server, not for any other reason.

Speaking My Mind: Which way will the war go?

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