Insurance companies make mistakes. No one is perfect. If your health insurance company isn’t paying claims it should, you cannot just keep sending documentation to the claims department. It won’t do any good. Before going (or threatening to go) to your state’s Insurance Commissioner, you should follow the process your insurance company has set up to fix mistakes. Look at the denial you were sent. There should be information on how to file an appeal. If you don’t still have that paperwork, call customer service and ask for appeals. Insurance companies make mistakes. Appeals departments are how they fix them.
Posts Tagged ‘healthcare’
Your Money Friday: Medicaid for Long Term Care
02
Nov
I’m a huge fan of long term care insurance, but many people had never heard of it, or the policies were never affordable. The majority of boomers are not going to have policies, and that means a lot of people may need Medicaid to cover custodial care.
The question this week was, if one spouse is still healthy and the other needs custodial care, what can the healthy spouse be left with? Must they impoverish themselves to care for their spouse?
The answer- it varies by state. And it wouldn’t hurt to start checking in to your state’s programs now.
Today is THE DAY (Court Watching Day 3)
28
Jun
Today is THE BIG DAY in Court watching. It’s the day the Supreme Court will announce it’s ruling on the healthcare bill. I see reports everywhere that lots of people want it struck down as unconstitutional. I want to ask those people if they think a pre-existing condition should be a barrier to insurance. Or if college students (who are unlikely to be able to get health insurance through a job) should be forced off their parents’ insurance? People like those provisions. They don’t like the individual mandate. Today we find out if all, none, or some of it goes.
Ending the AARP Monopoly on Government Subsidized Healthcare
24
Oct
I believe a 7 year old is just as entitled to quality healthcare as a 70 year old. If it is government’s job to make sure the elderly have access to medical treatment, why isn’t it their job to make sure children do too? Not all parents have jobs that offer healthcare benefits for themselves, let alone their children, and even fewer have affordable benefits.
Do not give me the Medicaid argument. Needy seniors qualify for Medicaid, too, but we don’t limit subsidized healthcare only to them. Its time we started caring for our future as well as our past.
Let Me Be Your Death Panel
23
Oct
What happens if you are incapacitated and incapable of making decisions for yourself? Who gets to decide what treatments you receive, if any? Your doctors? No. The government? Let’s hope not. Unless you have a medical Durable Power of Attorney, the order is this: spouse, adult children, parents, siblings, adult grandchildren, etc. If you have more than one adult child, they all have to agree (to be verified by the care givers) on treatment before anything can be done.
By thinking ahead and giving someone DPOA status, you get to choose whose hands your life is in. Think about it.