pol
Today's phone call with Anthem went marginally better than yesterday's, in that I got to tell three people that their corporate actions were directly contributing to the lack of trust in the existing system and the growing belief in universal health care. I also got to cut off a medical professional three times with "you're not my wife's doctor, and I don't trust you."
I hope the Director of Behavioral Psych comes down with Herod's Evil.
pol
I think what really made this call special for me is that the disconnect between their position and mine was stark from the outset. They're looking at populations and groups, studying meta-analyses and making decisions based on statistics. Presented with an individual case that clearly violates the norm, their answer was like any good liberal to leap back to their Big Data and proclaim that they did the right thing based on the literature, ignoring what the doctors involved in the case want.
pol
I also took the time to rub their collective nose in the fact that every insurance company refused to pay for SRS and forced me to cough up $50k out of pocket across two people to get life-saving medical care because their "meta-analysis" said my needs were "cosmetic." That alone was enough to make me not trust their boards of experts. The doctor wanted off the call after that. Literally, that was when he said "I don't think this call is going to get us anywhere."
pol
Oh, and I did ask Maria if she passed on the message to her SO like I asked her to. She raised her voice at me and said, "I don't think that's appropriate for this call." I responded with, "I think it's absolutely appropriate that the emotional cost of your business' decisions be held foremost in everyone's minds when you choose to between any patient and their doctor and refuse to cover requested care, regardless of reason."
Nobody talked for a few seconds after that.
pol
@literorrery THANK YOU. I am so sorry and so *angry* that you're having to go through this, and I am so, so deeply thankful that you're able to do it with biting vitriol which at least forces *some* of the people on the other end to *think* about the human costs of the system. *sending so much comforting stregthening hugthoughts to you*
pol
@literorrery *hugs lots* this sounds extremely frustrating and I'm sorry you're having to go through it. Give them hell!
pol
So I have another call tomorrow with just the Anthem rep, who I think at this point I've actively antagonized enough because she _is_ trying to help me, in whatever fashion she can. I'll be _damned_, however, if I give up making this as emotionally charged as I think she can handle. This shit is unacceptable.
Perhaps three doctors all saying "you're wrong" will get them to change their minds. I'm not counting on it, but I'm running out of options.