Seems I'm only good for a weekly post now a days...

I have been very busy of late, working full time at Honda and training as a 9-1-1 telecommunicator.

I had my last CT scan in January and since my Oncologist did not expect to find anything...I have not heard from his office. I'll call him in a few days and confirm we have nothing new to talk about.

However as things go...I learned fairly quickly that my "new" insurance company "Oxford Health" decided to not pay for this last scan. They matter of factly stated that "THEY" do not deem the scan medically necessary since my previous scan showed no evidence of any recurrance.

So, basically this one is probably going to be on me. I have not notified my Oncologist who had to provide the medical history for the scan after it happened, but I suspect he was not notified of the refusal to pay for it.

I wonder what this means for the reamining two scans I have to accomplish this calendar year.

What pisses us off the most is we struggled to pay COBRA all of last year to avoid my becoming labeled a "pre-existing condition" and now my new insurance has taken this position on my future health.

Adding insult to injury was the three letters we recieved this month (Februray) dated January 24th which places them written before the denial letter we recieved dated January 29th...these three letters from Oxford addressed my then pending appointment and the "approved" facility Oxford recommended I go to for the CT scan.

My Oncologist's office got pre-approval for the scan before making my appointment at Chilton Memorial. (All of my scans have been done at Chilton) I walked into Chilton had my scan and found out a few days later they wouldn't be paying for the scan, I guess because Chilton is not an approved Oxford provider (??) but they couldn't reach me before I was scheduled...?

The reason there were three letters is because the approved Oxford provider seems to be a small radiology place that can only do a CT scan in three different scans. The letters address the individual scans of my neck, my abdomen and my pelvis. The problem I have with three separate scans is that I my scans include the use of a contrast which is injected into my system with an IV. The contrast is not really that good for your kidneys and exposure three times might not be a big deal if you still have TWO kidneys...

Hey Oxford...if you spoke to my oncologist about my case you should already know I only have ONE kidney because I was diagnosed with Renal Cell Carcinoma when I was diagnosed with Hodgkins...it was removed last year before my chemo started...the contrast is bad enough administered once. You Losers!

Arrgh! I hate dealing with insurance companies. Insurance in this country is a JOKE and I have seen enough red tape and bullsh*t since I was diagnosed to make me vomit. And everyone I tell this to just shakes their head in agreement.

I haven't decied who I might actually vote for this year...I used to vote republican, but in the last few years I have voted more independently...I don't like either side, I think we need a third or fourth party because the losers we have to choose from suck on both sides. They spout off about health care and promise to do something...but they never do.

It's like choosing one asshole over another. Either way you still have to choose an asshole.

I have not seen Michael Moore's film SICKO but I have a feeling when I do I will be more pissed than I am right now. The Government HAS to do something about the healthcare (Scratch that...) the Government HAS to do something about the SICK CARE in this country because it is severely, severely broken.

But they don't care...they can afford to get sick. It's the rest of us that can't.

Here I am 38 years old, currently in remission, needing periodic CT scans to monitor any recurrance and an insurance company now saying "We don't thinkyou need them" - My wife isn't certain Oxford was indicating in the letters we received that they were going to pay for the scan regardless of where I got it done.



But I digress...

I was contacted by another blogger who asked to link my blog to his. His blog is about good ol' Route 23. Check it out...http://www.route23nation.com/ I have already learned a few useful things thanks to his site.



Be well.