Well that was easy!

These last few months have been a dizzying array of appointments and hospitalizations. One activity I like the least is having to call my insurance company to have appointments approved. It is not a hard process, but it can be challenging giving the address of places and spelling doctors’ names over the phone. There is often background noise, and many times the insurance company has a lot of static on their phone lines. It can take four, five or six times of repeating the same information, and even at that, the information is not always correct. I often think how much easier it would be if I could just fill out a form online and submit it that way.

Moreover, there is always the obstacle of trying to figure out when to call without having to wait an hour on hold. The office opens at 8 a.m. Sometimes you can get right through at this early hour and sometimes you wait on hold for a long time. Sometimes it is best to call at 4:45, 15 minutes before they close. However, I have run into snags when an appointment is not approved, and then the insurance company cannot call the doctor’s office or medical facility because the medical center is closed.

Lastly, if the appointment is for a long distance appointment, I have to call my insurance, set-up the appointment, and then call another extension of the insurance company to get a medical necessity form faxed back to the main insurance company. Calling the insurance company extension is always nerve racking. It is always an hour wait on hold, and then the people answering the phone often are inexperienced at filling out the medical necessity form. It can take 30-45 minutes to go through the process. Once the medical necessity form is filled out, it has to be faxed back over to the main insurance company. I then have to wait a few days and call the main insurance company to ensure the medical necessity form was received and processed. I also have to call the main insurance company a few days before my appointment to make sure the appointment has been approved.

Today, I had to call the insurance company to check if an out of town appointment was approved. I have been praying for two days that this last phone call goes smoothly. I have had appointments not approved, and then it is a last minute sprint to the appointment time to get all the paperwork and information corrected to get the appointment approved. This morning, I got right through to the company. The man I spoke to was easy to understand, there was no background noise and the connection was crystal clear.  The appointment was approved. Moveover, another out of town appointment, which is not for several weeks, has also been approved. I was a bit dumb-founded how fast and smooth the phone call went. When I hung up the phone, I sent a joyous prayer up to God. “Well, that was easy! Thanks LORD for all Your help! I know You are the One who made this phone call so simple. Amen!”