The Little Victories in Life

As you could probably tell from my post on Tuesday, I was really bumming hard about the possibility of having to pay nearly $200 in charges from physical therapy on my knee that I got two years ago.  Theresa, the wonderful, wonderful woman from the hospital's billing department, called me at the end of the day on Tuesday, both to let me know that she was still working on getting ahold of the insurance company, and also to make sure I was having a better day.  I was so appreciative of her kindness throughout this entire process, and made no secret of that to her.  It is people like her, working in a field where many others are very snippy and rude, that make a difference.

I got a massage on Tuesday evening, thanks to a gift certificate that Dan got me for our anniversary.  I am generally not the type of person who loves receiving gifts (if you will remember from a few posts ago, the receiving of gifts is not one of my love languages!), but Dan's gift was so incredibly thoughtful, and who was I to turn down a massage?!  I had been meaning to use it for a while and sort of randomly settled on that date.  Little did I know that I would actually be in need of a massage (and maybe a few cocktails as well) after the nightmare of earlier in the day.  The venue was incredible, and so serene, so that definitely put me in the right frame of mind going into my massage.  The massage essentially ended up being a sports massage since, as a runner, I have a lot of kinks that need to be worked out (much of this is due to my aversion to stretching, which I know is something I need to take the time to do).  She went to town on my IT bands, which are incredibly tight, as are my quads, apparently.  The masseuse was applying "medium" pressure, as a result of which I had to summon all of my self-control to not cry out in pain (I was wondering to myself the world of pain that I would have been in had I elected for higher pressure).  Nonetheless, it WAS very relaxing, and I was actually so relaxed that I felt really lightheaded afterward.  I had to stop at CVS on the way home, but it was all with the knowledge that Indian food and the latest episode of The Bachelorette awaited me once I got home (I'm not even ashamed to say that I have watched every episode of this season).  It was the perfect end to what started out as a less-than-perfect day!

At the end of the day yesterday, Theresa called me to say that everything had been resolved, that the copayments that they were showing me as having paid canceled out all of the charges that I was being told that I owed.  I made sure that that applied to the month that I still have not been billed for, and she insisted that it did.  However, I am incredibly doubtful that the book is fully closed on this one.  I made sure to put Theresa's direct line in my phone should I be unnecessarily billed again.  I had an overwhelming amount of relief yesterday that these charges, at least for the moment, appear to be resolved.  However, I am still waiting to hear about those pesky x-rays.  If I can escape these two incidents without owing a cent, I will consider myself very lucky.

As usual, this weekend is already getting packed with activities, but I'm looking forward to it!  I think it will be a nice mixture of time with family, friends and Dan.  Also, tomorrow I will have a very special announcement.  No, this isn't what you think it is; I am not engaged/pregnant/moving/getting a new job/going to grad school, or whatever else you might think it might be about.  But you'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out what it is :)

Insurance Woes

So it's been a while since my epic showdown with Comcast, and I guess the universe decided to spice up my life a little bit.  I was just floating along easily, filling my mornings before work with reading my many books rather than making daily, hourlong phone calls to Comcast.  So maybe my life was getting just a little bit too easy.

On Sunday afternoon, after a weekend away from my apartment, I came home to find an explanation of benefits from my current insurance provider for an x-ray that I got last July (Question #1: Why am I getting this nearly a year later?  Great question!  That has yet to be determined. Question #2: Why am I being charged for an x-ray when my insurance is supposed to cover all of it, especially since I had a written prescription from my doctor that I brought down to radiology with me?  Another great question!  Apparently, my insurance requires the doctor to submit a pre-certification form for all outpatient radiology services.  Thus, they now want me to pay because the doctor failed to submit that form, not only for that July x-ray, but also for one that I had in November, which I have not yet been billed for.  I am cursing myself for getting running injuries.)

Last night, I had a bill from the hospital waiting for me, which I assumed was related to the x-ray.  WRONG!  It was ACTUALLY related to the physical therapy that I received TWO YEARS AGO when I had a knee injury!  I paid the copays for this physical therapy (out-of-pocket and with itemized receipts, to be reimbursed later by insurance) at the time of service, and they were telling me that I owed $30.  Well, $30 is obviously not that much, but I called the hospital's billing services office to get more information about where this charge could have been coming from and why I was being hit with it now.  The customer service rep that I spoke to was the nicest person I have ever interacted with in the healthcare sector.  She said that, although I could certainly just pay the $30 and be done with it, she would recommend that I call my previous healthcare provider to hear their side of things and maybe get the charge removed. 

Well, I called them, and they told me that, not only am I responsible for that $30 charge, I also owe $150 for service in June.  WTF???????  I called the rep at the hospital back, sobbing over the phone, and she was so incredibly sweet.  She told me that she would look into it personally for me and see if we could come up with a solution together.  Thank God for this absolute saint, Theresa.

I guess it just really took the wind out of my sails to think that all of my debts to society are paid and then be told, in two separate incidents two days apart, that I owe over $300, all of those charges that I do not believe that I owe.  I was telling my coworker about it this morning, because she heard my sobs from my office as I talked to Theresa, and she said, "Wow, you make me not want to go to the doctor, ever."  Now that I know that I have a proclivity for tendonitis as a result of my running, I will not be going in for any more x-rays and wasting my time and money.  Okay, my rant is over.  Hopefully I will have a much happier post next time!

There are two bright spots to this otherwise crummy day: 1) this hilarious video that my coworker shared with me; and 2) the fact that I am getting my massage after work.  I couldn't have picked a better day for it in terms of needing to work out some tension!