Previously, I've mentioned the refusal of my insurance company to provide coverage for a colonoscopy if it was a medical neccesity, but willingness to do it as a routine procedure, which dumbfounds everyone I tell. (The reaction is generally along the lines of, "Then why do you even have insurance?")
Since I was going to the doctor today anyway (Foot problems--I shattered the heel in my right foot and have a steel plate instead of bone. Don't let this happen to you.), I thought I'd call the insurance company again, just to double check that what I was told was in fact true.
Guess what? It's worse than I thought! They still won't pony up the dough if it's a diagnostic procedure--if, in other words, my life may actually depend on it--but for a routine procedure, they'll pay the doctor's bills 100%. That is, they'll cover the costs the doctor will charge to read the results. But as for the procedure itself--Ha! First, I have to meet a thousand dollar deductible, THEN they'll still only pay "up to" 60% of additional costs.
In other words, I'm shit outta luck.
The chilling thing is, when I mentioned this to the doctor, he just sort of shrugged and said, "That's unfortunate, since it tends to be an expensive procedure." Clearly, this is a situation he knows all too well.
I have a nothing job, but it's one that allows me a certain amount of flexibility, and one that doesn't follow me home at night. With a job like this, I don't expect an awesome benefits package, but why even bother offering insurance that doesn't pay for fairly basic medical needs? It would be different if the coverage, lousy though it may be, was provided free of charge by my employer...but it's not. I pay.
In every possible way.
