Follow me, if you will. Down a dark hallway, doors lining either side, stretching infinitely forward. Here we stop and we see a door entitled, The Health Insurance Zone. In it we will experience a horrifying tale of incompetance, red-tape, and injuries. Open it, and see…
A Wednesday. A wednesday not unlike last wednesday, and definitely unlike the coming wednesday. A wednesday in which a man is playing basketball, and after jumping for a rebound, rolls his ankle on another player’s shoe, forcing all his weight on the side of his foot. We see him finish the game, play a second game, limping and hopping through the entire game, taking one for the team.
Watch and see how thursday the small swolen spot has grown to cover the entire foot. See shoes no longer fit, and toes begin to appear like nipples on a boar. Witness the phone call of the man’s wife to the insurance company in which she is told that a visit to the Emergency Room under their insurance will cover nothing. See the appointment scheduled the following day with a family doctor, see the x-rays ordered, taken, and results phoned back. The foot is fractured. Hear the doctor tell the man that he should now go to the ER because that’s the only way to see an orthopedic doctor at this late time.
Watch the trip to the ER, and hear the response of the ER staff who say that it’s a six and a half hour wait and all they’re going to do is splint the foot and schedule an appointment for next week anyway.
Hear two more phone calls to the insurance agency, until finally one of the agents gets a clue and mentions that there is coverage for accidents that would have covered the initial ER visit. Listen and wonder at the incompetance of it all.
Watch the couple now calling the doctor’s office and radiologists office where they have to get refunds for their payments already spent. $310 may seem like a lot for an x-ray (only 1 was needed, but two were ordered, and thus must be paid for), but remember, this is the Health Insurance Zone.
I think Keith is rubbing off on you.
Left by Greg on June 1st, 2004
Ok …. I don’t see any fractures. But that sucks man.
Left by Eric on June 5th, 2004