New contact lenses feel great! I recognize that I am odd. Yet, I do look forward to the annual eye-exam in which I stomp out of the exam with a new contact lens prescription in hand and several boxes of those magical small pieces of circular concave plastic that cling to your eyeballs. It is a victorious feeling, I tell you! (As I write this I realize it doesn't seem like it takes much to satisfy me.)
Today was the day! It has been 14 months since I have had an eye exam and I arrived for my eye appointment with 4 minutes to spare. I am amazing at planning on time arrivals. If there were an Olympic Sport for such an event I could be considered athletic at something. I had just phoned my insurance company to be sure I fully understood the realm of benefits and my eligibility. Good news, people! I was eligible for the full benefits in my contract. Woot! Woot!
Then, the girl behind the desk reached over, grabbed my contact lens high and yanked it from my hands! She said that the doctor of optometry in this office, who replaced my former doctor, has the policy to have the patient pay for the visit up front. Once she is reimbursed by my insurance company she will then issue me a refund check for today's services. Come again? I have never heard of such a thing. Why would I have insurance if it meant I had to pay up front, wait for the insurance to pay the doctor, and then have the doctor reimburse me? What is the world coming to? Is the health care system in such a state of shambles that this is what medical service is coming to? Maybe, but I quickly jumped to a few other conclusion as I processed this news out loud.
"Is the doctor broke? Does she need money that bad that this is how she sees patients?" Well, that wasn't the thing to say. I was met by a dumbfounded "I can't believe you asked that." look from the girl behind the desk. I then invited the girl behind the desk to ring up my insurance company. "They will tell you I have a valid policy and what coverage is included." She replied, "We have already verified your insurance." Oh, so what is the problem here, I wondered.
Thinking all of the above was just some misunderstanding I said, "No, I have insurance. It pays in full for these services. There is no co-pay, pre-payment or getting reimbursed from the doctor."
The gal behind the desk sang me the "This is the new doctor's policy" speech, which only irritated me more. So, being as mature as I am I simply said, "Oh, I'll go somewhere else." and with that I turned and headed for the door.
Now, maturity is something I lack. If you know me then this is no news flash to you. However, I have to pause here and say how good it felt to stand up for something. What I was standing up for is still not clear to me. Was I standing up for the principal of not letting someone else put their needs ahead of mine? Was I standing up against someone I quickly perceived to be taking advantage of the situation? I mean, who is to say that a refund check would ever come from this doctor once she was reimbursed by the insurance company?
So, here I am penning this thinking "I showed her!" when in the back of my mind I am poking myself because now I need to round up a new doctor of optometry.
I keep telling myself that my own stupidity isn't as bad as it comes across. Yet, as I read this I wonder who I am fooling...
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