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The joy we had when we brought in the arrival of our first child, was nothing in comparison to the joy we felt beginning our relationship with the insurance company. We hoped that the last thing we would have to worry about when caring for our premature baby was how to pay his medical bills. The following is all the hilarious and unbelievable situations that have arisen from the insurance company.

My son had to be quickly taken to another hospital when he was born that had an equipped NICU, and the bill to make this little drive was the first to arrive. The insurance had denied payment on this $1,000 because they didn’t see it as a medical necessity. The only thing I could think of was that they expected us to try and plug the incubator in our car’s cigarette lighter. We wrote an appeal, that has now made it covered.

It is sad really because we are only college students paying for the campus health insurance, which is pretty low budget, and they expect all our health needs to first be seen at the on campus health center. When my son was born, we happened to be in a different state, so going to their health center was a little out of the question. Since we cannot afford to take our son on a plane to their on campus health center every time he needs to go to the doctor, which was quite a bit, we are being held responsible for these kinds of bills.

For example, his immunizations were administered to him at the pediatrician’s office. But since they weren’t given to him at the health center, we pay for them out of pocket. We have now moved back to campus and happily went to the health center to get him up to date on his immunizations. You can imagine my surprise when they told us that they don’t offer immunizations at the health center, you have to go to a pediatrician!

So, I asked the insurance company if they ever actually communicate with the health center before they write their policies. So you understand that we are paying out of our pocket because we didn’t go where the insurance wanted us to go get his shots, when they don’t even give shots anyway. Are you appreciating the hilarity of this ignorance? I hope so.

The mother of all our bills came from the doctors at the NICU that daily visited my son in the hospital. Let me first clarify that when my son was first admitted into the hospital, we called the insurance to make sure that this was ok and everything would be taken cared for. Regardless of their reassurance, the bill came stating our insurance’s lack of coverage.

It seems that the doctors that worked in the hospital weren’t covered, even though the hospital is covered. I forgot that it wasn’t important to see a doctor while you were in the hospital and should have opted for my son to not be seen by them. What’s the point of going to the hospital without seeing a doctor? I don’t see how this works.

It is also being appealed on account of the policy making no sense, along with the complete lack of control we had in the doctors seeing our son anyway. My son went to the hospital while I was still in the hospital myself. Then they put a safety device on his ankle that prohibits anyone from taking him even as far as the elevator without being arrested. Plus who would say, please don’t take care of my three pound son that can’t even breath by himself because there’s a chance the insurance won’t cover it.

I’m assuming that there is a man somewhere in the depths of the insurance company who makes his living out of writing confusing no nonsense policies about receiving medical treatment when he himself has probably never been to the doctor. Apparently when you work with insurance you are miraculous free from any kind of medical attention, or else they would be most astute at making it easier to use their policies. I wonder why it was such a topic of debate at the last election?

Believe it or not, there are people we found within the insurance company with a knowledge of their flaws and a desire to help. So, when you do finally meet these people, it would be wise to ask them if they could personally assist you in all your further claims. Maybe if it feels appropriate, even get their email and extension so you can get directly to them without wasting time with the call center ignoramuses that got the job because they can read a prompt. That is the mostly useful advice I can give.

Remember that you are a client with rights, and you can question or appeal anything that you see going on that doesn’t seem right. Contacting the insurance company before you pay the bills when they come will prevent overpaying bills that the insurance may still be working on. Doctor’s offices also sometimes will continue charging you the full bill even after the insurance has made deals with them for a lower price, and you should be aware is this is happening. Even writing down conversations you have with the insurance will benefit if any miscommunications arise, so you can verify what you were told.

What it comes down to is that these people are trying to do their job, and we can help them know how to improve in it. It can’t be helped dealing with this in order for us to have healthcare, so all you can do is take a deep breath when you are frustrated. The best way to avoid these problems, just don’t get sick, and you’ll be fine.