Angharad (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} angharad76) wrote,@ 2008-03-06 22:22:00 |
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I said a dirty word
How to get the operator at ehealthinsurance.com to hang up on you: Say the F-word!
I'm thinking about changing my health care coverage. Duh. The one offered through work clearly isn't working, and the premium is high too. The problem is me. There isn't a health insurance company in the world that would take me on if it had the choice. I've been denied by the best.
I decided to call ehealthinsurance.com to see if there might have been some change in the last few years since my last round of denials.
I told the operator I was looking to change my health insurance coverage.
"What state do you live in?" she asked.
"Illinois. Um, the problem is my pre-existing conditions."
"What pre-existing conditions do you have?"
"Um, asthma."
No response. So far so good.
"Chronic migraine."
Still no response. Things are looking up. I decide to skip the Ehlers-Danlos and go right to dropping the f-bomb.
"Fibromyalgia."
Bingo. "Let me stop you right there," she says. "With fibroidmyalgia [sic], none of our plans will cover you." Click.
At least most insurance companies now recognize fibromyalgia exists (even if the Firefox spellcheck doesn't). When I was first diagnosed, that wasn't the case.
I truly believe that fibromyalgia sufferers are victims of sexism as well. If the gender ratio were reversed (it's 9 to 1, women to men), it would have been recognized as an illness before 1987, and the skepticism and the initial insurance claim denials would have been seriously reduced.
How to get the operator at ehealthinsurance.com to hang up on you: Say the F-word!
I'm thinking about changing my health care coverage. Duh. The one offered through work clearly isn't working, and the premium is high too. The problem is me. There isn't a health insurance company in the world that would take me on if it had the choice. I've been denied by the best.
I decided to call ehealthinsurance.com to see if there might have been some change in the last few years since my last round of denials.
I told the operator I was looking to change my health insurance coverage.
"What state do you live in?" she asked.
"Illinois. Um, the problem is my pre-existing conditions."
"What pre-existing conditions do you have?"
"Um, asthma."
No response. So far so good.
"Chronic migraine."
Still no response. Things are looking up. I decide to skip the Ehlers-Danlos and go right to dropping the f-bomb.
"Fibromyalgia."
Bingo. "Let me stop you right there," she says. "With fibroidmyalgia [sic], none of our plans will cover you." Click.
At least most insurance companies now recognize fibromyalgia exists (even if the Firefox spellcheck doesn't). When I was first diagnosed, that wasn't the case.
I truly believe that fibromyalgia sufferers are victims of sexism as well. If the gender ratio were reversed (it's 9 to 1, women to men), it would have been recognized as an illness before 1987, and the skepticism and the initial insurance claim denials would have been seriously reduced.
