T ime-consuming
R edundant
I infuriating
C onfusing
A AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!
R idiculous
E veryone's favorite target!
Ah yes, aren't we all inspired by our health-care system? Recently, I've had yet another TriCare snafu and it's made me stay up late and write poetry. Thought I'd share my latest and most printable!
I deal with TriCare like some people deal with chocolate addiction! Not only is denial a tremendous ally, but I just can't turn around in my house without running into an EOB or approval/denial form. My oldest child, Cubby, is a cancer survivor. Not just a cancer survivor, but a Stage IV cancer survivor of a very rare pediatric cancer, Rhabdomyosarcoma! As a result of his cancer treatments, he's got more follow-up medical issues than I care to count. Most of them are not earth shattering, but they have to be kept up with by the medical profession. All of this means that in 'TriCare season' - for me it's the fall when we do a slew of our yearly appts - I get inundated with TriCare issues.
Here's my latest - I've lately gotten a lot of TriCare approval forms (this is the good part) with absolutely no clue as to which specialty doctor has been approved (this is the part that's not so good). It could be any of his specialists: Oncologist, Urologist, Orthopedic Surgeon (and he has two!), Dentist, Orthodontist, Cardiologist, Physical Therapist, Occupational Therapist - take your pick! There is absolutely nothing on the letter to indicate which specialty has been approved. Mind you, I'm thrilled that he's been approved! But when I go to make the appointment, I'm going to look like an idiot when I have no idea which doctor I'm calling for - I really loathe looking like an idiot!
So, what did I do? Back to the phone - thanking heaven, yet once again, that I'm not charged for local calls to my TriCare Case Manager! Poor Kathy is on my speed dial! I think she just always answers the phone - "Hello G, what can I do for you? ". We got to the bottom of it and cleared up the confusion. As with most TriCare issues, it takes time, persistence and patience to work through this - patience would be the area in which I fall short! This was an easy fix. In my experience, few of them are easy --- there was the time we had to contact our Senator!
Having said this, I really have had tremendous luck with TriCare and they've been amazingly cooperative with us thus far. But there are times and issues that can drive a person to chocolate - which may lead to the early comparison! We've all had those times, we've all spewed about those times....but, have you written poetry you can share??????
