Part one: phone tag
The first calls come in early February. My insurance changed over on Jan. 1, and my DME supplier is calling for a new insurance information. I believe I gave them my new insurance number. For reference, the medical supplier is J&B Medical. The insurance is a Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO in the state of Michigan.
Mid-April: I’m now out of supplies. I really need to figure out what’s going on with this supplier. I start calling the company. I give them my insurance number several times over. Nothing seems to move.
Relevant and frustrating piece of information is that I went to a doctor’s appointment at my endocrinologist on March 22. I was literally in the office on time when the receptionist told me the doctor had cancelled my appointment. The doctor was very strong willed about this, citing that she could cancel it because I was late, because the appointment details ask that you arrive 20 minutes early. I’m still unsure of the actual policy. I filed a customer service complaint and I’m pretty sure I’m now getting iced out.
May 2: I am totally out of supplies and have no way to get any. I start calling the medical device company regularly. I have the same conversation over and over with different people which includes some version of this:
Did your insurance change?
Yes, I have already given this information several times.
It seems like your insurance hasn’t been verified yet.
Okay so go ahead and verify it.
Great I will take care of this, I will call you back within an hour.
One hour later… crickets.
May 10: after 69 minutes on the phone and talking extensively with a supervisor named Rico, I am assured that it will be dealt with. Rico tells me that he has filed a formal complaint within his company and the policy requires that I get a phone call back in 24 hours.
24 hours later… crickets. (Verifies by my phone records.)
May 13: calls totalling 15 minutes and 33 minutes… I finally get some information: the insurance was verified. According to J&B the insurance requires chart notes from my doctor in order to authorize CGM sensors. The chart notes need to be from within the last six months. Unfortunately the only appointment I had within the last six months was inappropriately cancelled by my doctor. I am also almost out of paid time off days, partially due to the day I took off in order to go to that appointment got cancelled. Also, as a teacher it’s very challenging to take a day off at this time in the year. It’s super busy and a lot of people are out due to Covid and flu.
They also tell me that I received a phone call from a supervisor name Victoria the previous day. Phone records indicate no such call. The current supervisor I’m on the phone with is being very confrontational. Yikes.
So here I am, several months later, with no supplies and I owe another diabetic two sensors that I’ve borrowed so far. I have no clue if I’ll be able to make an appointment any time soon with my endocrinologist.
