Right now one of the biggest debates that is facing our nation is what to do about Healthcare. While I do not know what the correct answer is, I do know that something must be done.
Many of my friends and colleges have started to share insurance nightmares. Issues that they are facing, dealing with when it comes to insurance companies. I felt that I had to voice the following story.
Several years ago my aunt woke up early in the morning not feeling very well. She woke up my uncle, who after taking one look at her realized something was very wrong. My uncle called 911 and the firemen and paramedics came. After the paramedics evaluated my aunt they decided she needed to get to the hospital ASAP and called for an ambulance.
Soon after getting to the hospital, the Dr's felt my aunt my be having a heart attack and called a cardiologist in. As the cardiologist was tending to my aunt, she suffered a massive heart attack and passed away.
While this is a tragic story our family was comforted by the level of care that was received at every step of the process. From the firemen all the way to cardiologist.
You are probably wondering how this story could get worse or what the twist is. Several weeks after my aunt passed away, my uncle received a letter from the insurance company saying they had reviewed the case and they felt he overreacted, and that an ambulance was not necessary and that they would not cover the expense.
Err What? Over reacted? Ambulance not necessary? In case you missed the end of the story, which the insurance company obviously did. She died! How could it be more serious?
Obviously my uncle was in no shape to deal with the issue, and his son stepped in. After many phone calls to the insurance company, while grieving for the loss of his mother, my cousin finally snapped and told the insurance company he was not dealing with them anymore, that he was turning it over to his attorney, because he could not possibly imagine how the insurance companies position of "not serious" could hold any water since she died. Once this threat was made, someone called back from the insurance company and of course agreed to cover the ambulance.
As I started this post, I don't have the answer to the insurance crisis facing our country. All I do know is that something must be changed. Stories like this, which I first took truly as an administrative blunder, seem to be all to common and are anything but administrative mistakes, but truly the insurance companies standard operating procedure.
