All -
Herewith, another installment in the series "Adventures in US Healthcare in the Early 21st Century."
I just got a stack of notices from Anthem Blue Cross, my health insurance company. Remember that this is the company to which I, as a single man, am paying $725 a month for coverage. $8,700 per year. These notices let me know how much of each of my various medical bills will be paid for under the plan, and how much I'll be liable for.
The notices took a while to get to me because I had to move just prior to entering the hospital, so they had to be forwarded.
One of the notices included the news that they have approved my hospital stay for a "sleeve lobectomy." Huzzah. In their medical wisdom, they decreed that a hospital stay of one (1) day was Medically Necessary. Funny, my surgeon originally told me that I would be in for three to four days, but because the surgery turned out to be slightly less complicated than he had anticipated, I was out in two. The nice people at Anthem could not have known that the surgery would turn out that way when they made their determination. Thus, I am left wondering what went into their decision process.
In any case, I guess that second day wasn't necessary. I was just loafing. And only some kind of complete slacker would have taken a third or fourth day.
I'm not sure what this will mean with respect to being billed for the second day. Haven't gotten the word on that yet.
What's even more fun is that there was an insert with this particular note titled "Tips for Your Hospital Stay." It's all about what to do before your elective hospitalization, and your elective surgery.
Excuse me, but when did having a cancerous tumor removed from one's lung become elective?
- Allen
[edit] I just opened another notice from Anthem, and this one includes the welcome news that an "extension" of two more days was approved, after the fact, as being Medically Necessary.
Hey, I'm so happy that I don't have some government bureaucrats making decisions about my healthcare for me. Instead, I've got private bureaucrats who are paid to make sure their employer doesn't spend too much for my care. That's better, right? |
