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View Full Version : Victory at last!!!




AidansMommy1012
02-27-2006, 01:08 PM
Feel like I've been put through the wringer, but at least I got the results I wanted. "Why do you feel so worn out?" you may ask. No, it's not pregnancy associated fatigue. It's not even from having a young toddler. It's because I had to meet the challenge of finding a real, live human being from my insurance company to answer my questions on the phone. :irked:

I called the birth center today and signed us up for an open house next Tuesday. I asked how I would go about finding out if my insurance covers birth center deliveries, and they said to call the number on the back of my insurance card. Fair enough. So I call. And try every option available to me. And the only real person available to me is an RN who can't transfer me anywhere I need to go. I get online and call DH (it's his insurance) at band practice for his member login name and password. He doesn't remember. I call the number on the back of my card again, thinking perhaps I missed something, surely there must be some way. Apparently I missed nothing. I hunt around online and finally find the number for their general office and call it. I finally get transferred to someone who can answer my questions. I just need to be on hold for an undetermined amount of time. DS senses the urgency and frustration in the air and poops. So, my call is finally taken as I am wiping DS's little bottom. Of course. I begin talking as I hurry and finish the job and deposit DS in his crib for his nap, who is now beginning to complain at the rushed pace and lack of total attention to his personal care. He settles down when I give him a copy of Goodnight Moon and close the blinds.

I find out that they DO cover birth center deliveries, but they can't find my birth center in their network, so I need to call the birth center and find out if they participate in my PPO. I call, and the woman on the other end of the line apologetically informs me that the girl who usually handles all the insurance info is on a cruise this week, and she's not sure if they do or not. So I have to call their birth center in Muncie (far, far away) and ask.

And....they do! :D

Must eat and lie down now.




lotus.blossom
02-27-2006, 01:17 PM
Congrats on all your hard work! I certainly know the horrors of trying to deal with insurance companies! Could they make it any more difficult? Grr!

jinkel
02-27-2006, 08:28 PM
Yay! I'm so happy for you! :D

And I'm sorry for :lol (which I did, several times), but you seem to have a flair for writing humorously....

ksjhwkr
02-27-2006, 09:57 PM
Ok, I wrote to you earlier, but the server was being weird and it didn't post! :irked:

Anyway, I am SO glad that you are able to go to the birth center!!! Insurance companies can be such a PITA! I am just thrilled for you!!! :D
Ok, and I must know how you get your son to go down for naps so easily?!?!? I am totally jealous! :lol

Quagmire
02-27-2006, 11:28 PM
Oooh I feel your pain. I am on the same hunt with my birth center. Or, more accurately, I am now tormenting my chosen birth center with regular phone calls because they recently submitted an application to my insurance company to be in-network and I'm trying to find out the exact moment I can ditch my OB :)

FYI for anyone who is interested, it became law this year that out-of-hospital birth centers be covered equally to in-hospital births. That was good news :thumb However it will probably take awhile for birth centers to get caught up with all the main insurances so if you're interested in a specific place you might gently prod them to submit an application to your insurance co.

Unfortunately we switched to an HMO this year so I don't have any out of network options. Bah.

littlemommy18
02-28-2006, 02:06 AM
I am reading this having total deja vu! I think we were walking in the same shoes today!! I too had this battle with my insurance only to find out that ALL of the midwives that will travel to my house just recently withdrew themselves from my network coverage (tricare). good job on your hard work and congrats on finding your birth center!!