Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Why do I have insurance again?

I really hate insurance companies. For someone like me, who didn't grace the threshold of a doctors door for years (I'm not sure I ever went to a doctor between the times I had chipmunk cheek when I was 3 and when I had mono when I was 21), insurance is a waste of money. Ok, so I realize that we get insurance "just in case" something happens....like a car wreck or falling off a roof or a piano falling out of the sky and landing on top of your head. But, I still feel like my insurance company is making a killing off of people like me. I'm a healthy, active 25 year old who is very rarely sick. Well, I got a statement of "benefits" from my insurance company tonight. They are denying claims that they had already sent me a statement about to say that they were covered. I knew that they wouldn't pay for any of my infertility treatment, but in February, I had an annual and 1 a year is supposed to be covered 100%. Nope. Denied. The original blood work? Denied. The physician fees for the annual? Denied. $600.00 that was supposed to be covered? Denied. I had already looked up the policy for infertility coverage through my insurance company. Their policy is that they will not cover any testing for fertility or infertility and that they will not cover any complications that arise because of treatments or procedures. Ok, they covered their bases. But, it makes me wonder: are they going to say that a pregnancy is a complication? What if it's multiples? Would that be a complication? Are they going to deny everything I see my doctor for? Insurance is supposed to be just that: insurance. I didn't choose to be infertile. I didn't choose to have a left tube that may or may not exist. I didn't choose to not ovulate normally. I didn't choose to have a right ovary that likes to migrate so that the coochie cam can't find it. I didn't choose to have problems getting pregnant. Insurance was designed to help people conquer diseases. Why isn't infertility defined as a disease by my particular insurance company? Miriam Webster defines disease as "a condition of the living animal or plant body or of one of its parts that impairs normal functioning and is typically manifested by distinguishing signs and symptoms." That sounds a whole lot like infertility to me. Plus, why am I paying for maternity coverage when I can't get pregnant? None of this makes any sense to me. I'm glad that I am buying the insurance guru's (not to mention my doctors) new Beemers. I hope they enjoy them and that the fleas of a thousand camels infest the bodies of all of them (not my doctor) and that they have arms that are too short to scratch.

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