rite of passage?

After a perfectly good day filled with yummy warm lentil and brown rice soup and a lovely time with Julie while our boys played, I came home to this disaster of an insurance situation that makes me so mad. Kevin said that all adults at some point in time have major problems with medical insurance, so it was our time. So perhaps this is some rite of passage into furthering adulthood...but whatever it is, I am angry.

I got this massive bill from our doctor's office from an appointment back in June. Although I just received this today, it was dated at the end of September and said that if I had not paid it within 8 days that they would just automatically charge my credit card on file with the insurance company. I immediately called the person it said to call to figure out what was wrong and make sure that I am not charged for something I received today that was dated 4 days short of a month ago. She said that this bill was leftover from the deductible I still owed. So I dug out all of my bills and what I paid, and somewhere, someone got something wrong. The doctor's office never even showed on the form that I paid what was leftover from my deductible and claims that I am still a few hundred dollars off. Yah, I don't think so. I've got my bills and statements saying what I have paid.

Now I've been going back and forth between the doctor's office and the insurance company and the broker, which I don't even understand what their function is other than to mess up even more things and make me even more mad. As a missionary, our doctor's office gives us 35% off all our fees. So nice of them since they are expensive. But suddenly in June the new receptionist says that I don't get the 35% discount because the claims are going through insurance directly. I have tried to talk to her and figure this out each time I go in, but I lose every time. And instead of placing my American mentality up front and demanding to see a supervisor and get to the bottom of it, I just calmly have agreed and would figure it out later if need be. So today when I talk with this other woman, she told me that I am still to receive that discount, even if it goes through my insurance first (not me paying and being reimbursed by insurance later, which is what most missionaries have to do). I tried telling the new receptionist this before, and she said that if she was wrong or bills got messed up, that she would then take off the 35% discount. We'll see if and when that happens since she was wrong.

The woman I have been emailing back and forth this afternoon said she will make sure the receptionist knows this. My insurance only pays so much (based on what is customary and whatnot), so receiving this 35% discount up front would greatly reduce the overall bills and charges, thus them being willing to pay more than they currently are. They claim that our doctor's office bills more than what is customary. Anyway, now I have to go in next week and have a huge ordeal about this. Somehow they are going to have reimburse the 35% discount on ALL of my doctor's appointments since the beginning of June (Praise the Lord I was in the States this summer and therefore had less appointments there!), somehow willingly resubmit them to my insurance company so that they are getting adjusted bills with the correct amounts, and then reimburse me the 35% of all that I have paid.

When was the last time you had a pleasant time dealing with a doctor's office and an insurance company when they made the mistake and owe back tons of money? Yah, didn't think that was too common. I realize that God can do miracles and work this out, but we are all a bunch of sinners here, so I am not counting on anything being situated for months to come, if ever honestly.

Oh, and on top of that, I was informed that they have no info about me being pregnant, nor do they have hospital information and everything else they need in order to process the hospital charges when I do deliver! She said there is "nothing in the system" in regards to any of that. I have only talked with half a dozen people about this and have all of my emails to prove that they have known for months, that I have filled out all the paperwork, and that they informed me that everything was set up...months ago! I have since checked, double checked, and triple checked to make sure everything on my end was done. I was pretty frustrated with all of that, and then this other woman I have been talking to from insurance tells me that they're just the broker. Blah, blah, blah. I can handle certain things, but incompetency bothers me more than anything else. What will happen when I go to leave the hospital...who knows. But I am frightened of what they'll say after my oh-so-pleasant dealings today.

Seth is still awake in his crib, calling out for me every few minutes. He doesn't want to go to sleep, and tomorrow morning we have to be up before the crack of dawn to head to immigration to apply for new visas. Let me tell you how excited I am for that. And that too costs a small fortune. I feel right now like it's never going to stop. I am so frustrated.

And for those of you wondering, STILL NO INTERNET!!!

You can all pray for me because I'm going to lose it!