I HATE INSURANCE COMPANIES!! - Long vent - sorry

I have been fighting with my insurance company every step of the way to get them to pay for things that they obviously cover under my plan.  Yet somehow, I get a call today from the clinic saying I owe close to $8,000 to just them - and another $14-15,000 to the hospital.  These charges all stem from procedures to detect, treat and eventually fix a condition I developed like 18 months after my WLS.  As if the complication itself weren't bad enough, now they are threatening to send me to F-ING collections and take legal action because I can't just write them a F-ING check for $8,000.  WHAT THE F*)K!  I send the clinic and the hospital $10-25 bucks a month because I am a poor college student with a Wal-Mart department manager for a husband, so we are broke and that is the best we can F-ING DO.  BUT AT LEAST I'M TRYING!  It isn't my fault the insurance company is run by a bunch of heartless sadists!  If they could wait until I had a career (like 2 years) or until my book gets published (okay, first I would have to finish writing it...but still!) I could pay more, but right now I JUST CAN'T. Now this is not the insurance company I had when I had WLS, HOWEVER since I got this insurance coverage less than 62 days after my old insurance, through my mom, dropped me, they got the "certificate of credible coverage" - which means THEY HAVE TO PAY FOR WLS-RLEATED EXPENSES!  THEY HAVE TO!  But they almost ALWAYS deny the first time the clinic or the hospital submits to them, just because they want to F*CK with me.  But once we make a few angry phone calls, and they are done laughing at me, they pay a little...and then more angry phone calls and evil laughter later they pay a little more...but they still haven't paid even 3/4 of what they should!   So I guess I have to make more angry phone calls...though I'm sick of it.  SICK TO DEATH of it.  The clinic is giving me until the end of the month to resubmit to the insurance company (my own self and I will try, but I don't know what good it'll do), and then they are getting lawyers involved.  IF I COULD F*(KING AFFORD A LAWYER TO FIGHT BACK I WOULD JUST F*(KING PAY THE DAMN CLINIC MYSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And in the meantime I go back for one final surgery on February 22nd so I'm just going to rack up more bills.  I feel so trapped by this, like I can't breathe.  And this is just frustration talking - but anyway - what could they do if I just shot myself?  Honestly, could they still harass my husband for the money, or would they have to drop it?.....I hate feeling like this.  I do the best I can, but the insurance isn't doing what they should and the clinic talks to me like I wanted to have complications requiring 3 surgeries and a thousand tests to deal with.  This isn't like credit card debt, it isn't like I went out and bought $8,000 worth of crap - I didn't ask for it and there is nothing I could have done to prevent it - so here I am, through no fault of my own and they are talking to me like I did this to myself.  F*CK them.  F*ck them all. Thanks for listening, I really appreciate it.

Amy, I am so sorry that the evil corporations are putting you through all of this. Maybe you can find an attorney that doesn't take payment unless they win your case. I know there are some out there. I hope the insurance company stops acting ****ty. And sweetheart, shooting yourself is not the answer! I know how you feel, that you wouldn't have to deal with it all if you weren't around, I have had that feeling, but you have been so strong to this point, don't give up now!!! You are in my prayers.

Thanks for the sweet response.  I would never shoot myself, I promise, I am just super frustrated with this company and with the clinic for having no heart.  Prayers are appreciated - that the insurance co would cooperate and that the clinic would be patient - or that some rich great uncle of mine would decide to pay all my bills - yeah, I like that one best .  Thanks for letting me vent.

Your state should have a Department of Insurance (or whatever they call it there) I suggest contacting them and getting them involved with your insurance company - there is no reason they should be denying payment if you have coverage.  Also the clinic cannot send you to collections if you are paying - they may not like the small amounts you are paying, but as long as you are paying as agreed with them they just have to suck it up.  I use to work at Cigna for many years, if there is anything I can do to help let me know - I know the insurance BS in and out because I use to shovel it out every day (lucky me right!). I got over 4 months of training in the beginning just to be able to understand insurance and claims... it took me a few more months of working on the phones before it all finally clicked - I feel bad for people because there is no way to understand everything!! They make the policies so confusing and forget about understanding the EOBs. Its horrible.

Thanks Jennifer.  I haven't contacted the Dept of Insurace (I know there is something like that - I think it might be the insurance oversight committee or something like that in Wisconsin) but I will.  My mom is her company's insurance coordinator in the human resources department, so she is going to help me make calls (since she knows what to say and who to say it to better than I do).  I called her already in tears and she had me call and get itemized statements for all of the charges the clinic and hospital want me to pay and then I called my insurance co to get a list of everything they have paid for / are pending to pay for.  So we're going to get this sorted out - the lady who talked to me today though just made me feel like a criminal because I am broke and made the mistake of getting sick.   As for the clinic sending me to collections - they said that since I wasn't paying the minimum they could send me, so even though I was faithful to pay something every month it isn't good enough.  The minumum they want from me a month is $320 for the clinic and $480 a month for the hospital, so there is no way on my husband's salary.  If all else fails, my husband and I have decided we will declare bankrupcy - which sucks, but it isn't like we have ANY assets except less than a thousand in stocks - so there's not a whole lot they can seize.  The whole thing is just ridiculous.  Hopefully it'll work out so we don't have to do that - I want to pay them, there is just no way I can pay what they want right at this instant and the insurance co is being dumb - but at least that way they will have to stop calling. I appreciate your response - it just feels so hopeless sometimes, and it is nice to hear it isn't necessarily.  Thanks. 

The amount the clinic wants is insane - hopefully the insurance dept there can help you - laws vary by state so its hard to know what help they can offer you - as far as I knew the minimum had to be something reasonable and to me $320 and $480 isnt reasonable. Here the minimum all my providers will accept is $25. I currently owe about $18000 in medical bills, $10000 is from a few years ago and is all on my credit (it was $20000!!!)... the $8000 has been generated in less than a year so I am starting a 2nd job in a few weeks to help pay for it.  As for bankruptcy - medical bills do not get included in bankruptcy so you would still be responsible for paying for them. Plus with the new bankruptcy laws your other debt doesnt get wiped away - its now a payback plan... you end up paying the majority of your debt back over a period of time... they set you up with monthly payments and you cannot miss. The laws have changed greatly over the past 2 years. Last I heard they were trying to make the pay back plan percentages even higher then they are currently.

I would be ticked too!!!  To say the least.  I'm so sorry you have to deal with that.  :(

Thanks for letting me vent and for sympathizing.  I am lucky I have this board to turn to. 

Turn to us anytime, sweetie!

I don't know what to tell you other than don't file bankruptcy - it will make it next to impossible to ever get a mortgage, and if you do - you would surely wind up paying much more then the orginal debt over the life of the mortgage in the form of higher compounded interest cuz they'll gouge you on your rate...This sucks, it really sucks....Keep fighting, jump through whatever hoops you need to, and if they lawyer up, tell the lawyers to go F themselves - they're really is nothing they can do. In the highly unlikely event that they pursue it all the way to a judgement against you, the payments will still be based on what you can pay, and it will eventually go away - but a bankruptcy won't