monkey5s: Chinese golden monkey (Default)
This year my insurer stopped covering "wellness checks". Only now do I see that, when they say they won't cover it, they mean they won't pay for anything related to assessing how your progress is going with ongoing treatments for things. Which means I am on the hook for the full price of the lab tests for my vitamin D levels, as well as checking my thyroid. And it also means they won't even negotiate a lower price for me to pay. The total for those two tests is $365.58.

And then we moved on to the Wound Clinic charges. This was only for the two trips I made in August, the September ones will be on the next EoB. For these, Medical Mutual slid part of the charges into my deductible for the year, plus used "coinsurance" (have never actually understood the concept of this, other than "another way to screw you over"), leaving me on the hook for $366.40. At least there was only one doctor copay on that, since the second visit was just to see the nurse. And sure, this is MUCH BETTER than having to pay the originally-billed $1,200.00.

I would like to get my varicose veins procedure done this year, since I've nearly met my deductible. But I am not sure I can add whatever large amount of cost that will entail, to the payments I will need to set up for the Wound Clinic charges. At least there will only be two more to pay for?
monkey5s: Chinese golden monkey (Default)
Yep, blood pressure was still very high. OK, I will deal with that.

First, the doctor tried to get me to see about a sleep disorder test. Which, no. Not right now, thanks. I'm still paying for two tests that she insisted I really truly needed IMMEDIATELY this past May. And I got to pay quite a bit last December for the test that she insisted was crucial IMMEDIATELY, which I wasn't able to get at the emergency room (as she insisted I visit to get that test RIGHT NOW), but got to waste most of the night there, anyway, only to come back in the early morning (and driving back down after 90 minutes of sleep was even less fun) to get the test she wanted. So no, I will think on the sleep disorder test, but right now my night time wake-ups are all bathroom-related.

For the hypertensiion, she put me on two medicines, a diuretic (I've done that before) and a beta blocker. The beta blocker made me very unhappy. My anecdotal knowledge of beta blockers is that they slow down your heart by reducing the effect of epinephrine. This would make it... difficult, let's say, to start exercising like I am trying to get myself geared up for. Cause, you know, "dizzy" or "fainted" are not exactly things that improve your cardiovascular health.

Research online just now shows that beta blockers can reduce pressure in the eye by lowering aqueous humor secretion- which would help with my one eye that is having some problems. So that would be a good thing I did not know about. On the other hand, use of diuretics and beta blockers together has proven to increase risk of developing diabetes.

The side effects of the beta blocker sound like fun: dizziness, fatigue, low blood pressure, diarrhea, weakness, slow heartbeat, and weight gain. Yeah, thanks. I've already regained weight I had lost last winter.

This diuretic is different from the one I used to get. This one is also an antiandrogenic, which... aren't we all exposed to enough of those through toxic chemicals in the environment? As a result, the side effects for this one, in addition to the really exciting PEE CONSTANTLY, include ataxis (gee, I hope not), rashes and dry skin. My skin is already pretty dry, so this does not thrill me.

I have a month's dose of each, and a return appointment this Friday to be sure the drugs are at least beginning to have the desired effect. The only unmistakably good thing about all this? Both drugs are on the "free' list at Kroger's.
monkey5s: Chinese golden monkey (Default)
I knew I had two CT scans to pay off from last month. I had received the billing for the first, just today I received the billing for the second. I wanted to set up a payment plan to take care of what I owed (since no, I don't have $876.76 lying around). They gave two customer service phone#s on the bills, a local call and an 800#. They stressed that you could reach a customer service rep at these #s between the hours of 7am and 8pm. I started trying to call before 7pm.

It's a highly-detailed automated phone system. Up front, they tell you about the hours for reaching a rep. Then you have to dance through giving your account#, followed by your date of birth. Then there are other options.

None of which appear to include actually being able to contact those elusive customer service reps.

I then went online, set up my account there, they offered a "payment plan" that was really high, and gave you the option to call their customer service #s to set up a plan different from what was on the screen. The same #s I had already tried.

They did give an e-mail address, so I have e-mailed them to ask how I'm supposed to talk to someone when the automated service won't give me that option. The automated reply to my e-mail claims I will hear from them within two business days. Can't wait to see what options they give me! < / sarcasm >

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