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Am I the only sucker on this continent? · 15 March 06
I cannot tell whether it is that up until this stage of my life, I have managed to avoid engaging with people or organizations where their incompetence can be such a major impingement upon my life. Perhaps. It doesn’t seem entirely likely, or feasible, but I am just about willing to give that thought a chance.
Nonetheless, the fact remains that since I have arrived in America I have had several such encounters. All of which have been drawn out, extensive, and marked by extreme incompetence and a failure to do any of the things committed to by the other person.
There have been three such situations since I arrived here. Three major ones I should stress, since the minor ones are a mere passing distraction at best, and a pain but not a long drawn out headache at worst (though that is despite their best efforts on at least one instance). The one person was in fact even a prime example of this from before I arrived in the US, but the escalation and revelation of her obstructive incompetence has been a slow and ongoing unfolding, so I will save that for another time.
The IRS is the first organisation that I identify as a culprit. They taught me the incontrovertible truth that when a customer support person says they will call you back, they are lying. I can honestly say that since moving to this country, I have never ever been called back by such a person. Ever. I did what all good dutiful people who are eligible to pay tax in the US must do, I filled in a tax return. This tax return clearly provided all the information required to demonstrate that I was owed a rebate, there were, as has been confirmed various times, no errors on this form. Nonetheless, I was billed for the amount of money they owed to me. Repeatedly. It did indeed reach the stage where they threatened to seize my assets. This did elicit something of a wry laugh from me as I was led to speculate on just exactly what they thought my assets might be. But nonetheless, I didn’t for a moment think that ‘good luck to you on that one’ would be an appropriate response. So I did what I had done for every single bill prior to that one, I phoned them up and had a long convoluted discussion with a member of customer support, the conclusion of which was that it was in fact them that owed me money. This situation was eventually resolved in November, when payment finally reached my account. Not, surprisingly enough, supplemented with any of the interest or penalties they had been busy adding to the final bill.
The IRS, however, are as nothing to Southern Health. I really have to give them kudos for that. I have, in fact, come to the conclusion that I am not dealing with mere incompetence. Nobody could be that incompetent. This has to be strategy. A complex, well-developed strategy honed over the years of their existence to absolutely fail to pay out one single cent until there is not one possible avenue of avoidance left to them. For every treatment that I have had since my accident I have had to make a minimum of three phone calls. Firstly, I call to check whether and to what extent the treatment I need is covered. Secondly, I call to check that the necessary preauthorization is in place. Thirdly, I call to remind them that yes, that treatment is indeed both covered and preauthorized, and could they please not reject the claim when it is put through for the second time. On very rare occasions that has been the end of the round. Never for the provider, I must stress, they still have the ‘wrong provider’, ‘wrong code’, ‘wrong dates’ stages to go through. No wonder healthcare costs are going through the roof. I completely understand why practices are hiring several people specifically to deal with the insurance claims. I am personally committed to only my case and it is still a huge drain on my time and ingenuity.
I am so tired of this. The temptation to just leave the country is huge. I pay for all of the costs that are my obligation, on time and without a murmur. I pay my monthly insurance premiums on time and without a murmur. I fulfill my commitment to them, I am a good customer and a compliant patient. When did they get to choose to stop having a commitment or at worst an obligation to me?
Interesting thought for the day: My insurance company claim to have provided preauthorization for anaesthesia, but that no procedure was requested. They actually thought that I was just going to go in there, lie on the couch for an hour or so and just sleep? If I was going to go in there and lie around with that particular cute doctor I think I’d rather be awake, thank you all the same.
Life in a small town Can you tell what we talked about at dinner tonight?
it is a collosal failure of our generation to allow the capitulation to the people who stand to gain the most capital from determining what national policy will be, instead of our rising up and demanding a moral, sane system.
at least, at the very least…you have that cute doctor…hmmm someone needs to direct him here by accident.
xoxo
b
— barry Mar 17, 22:41 #
— Dan Mar 18, 20:09 #
— AJS May 1, 15:34 #