Health Insurance

[Anonymous]

 Sorry .... long rant about TriCare to follow......

---

My son has TriCare and while I am very happy with the fact that I don't have to pay anything for it they couldn't be MORE of a pain in the rear to deal with.

They recently sent me a letter that said that a copy of my son's SS card was missing from his file and that I needed to fax one to them.

No biggie I called and verified that they actually needed the card and verified the number, I faxed the card to them and then called to  confirm they received the fax.

After their regular verify the caller circus (you must provide the sponser SS#, you SS# and the SS# of the person you want to discuss as well as current contact information for all involved parties before receiving any "secured" information)

Although all the information I provided matched what he had on file he said I needed to send proof that I was my son's mother.

I said "Well I just sent you a SS card and you have a Birth Certificate on file with my signature and it matches the Sig on the enrollment paperwork I filled out, what more proof do you need that I am his mother?"

He said... "Do you have a court order?" ???????  "Well No.... does your mother have a court order stating she is your mother or did everyone just sort of assume when you fell out of her &#&$% that she was your mom!" (He didn't like that and yes I said it!)

So I had his Dad call in and they gave him the same BS. For weeks we go around and around with this and FINALLY do you know how we got through to them...

My EX had his current wife pretend to be me (Ok with me but in this situation only) so that "We" could verify each others identity. They then said ok you are verified but we can only talk to Ms. Boo about your sons insurance because WE HAVE ON FILE THAT SHE HAS SOLE CUSTODY!!!!!!!" (Seriously...  NOW you acknowledge that?!?!?!)

Are you kidding me. After all we went through they finally verified they had received the fax to my son's Step Mother who has less rights to my son than his father does and she was only PRETENDING to be me!

OY! But still very glad that he has free insurance.. even though I still pay out of pocket for his medical expenses since its not worth the 2.5 week process of getting verified to request an appointment when my son has a fever.

[haulingthescoreup]

---

AmyBoo wrote:

He said... "Do you have a court order?" ???????  "Well No.... does your mother have a court order stating she is your mother or did everyone just sort of assume when you fell out of her &#&$% that she was your mom!" (He didn't like that and yes I said it!)

---

* laughing hysterically *

Oh, yeah, you don't ever want to challenge a woman on whether she actually gave birth!

Good for you for beating Tricare into shape. They can be a mess, that's for sure.

[Anonymous]

Well I was only brave enough to say it because I do actually have proof that I am his mother.

His father and I were no longer married and he could not be present at the birth due to a deployment so we had to have a DNA test done to get him on the Birth Certificate.

The DNA test at least agrees that there is a 99.87% chance that I am my son's mother.

[Anonymous]

OMG Amy that is beyond hilarious!

I can't believe the trouble you've had! TriCare gives me info like there's no tomorrow... Sometimes I can't even keep the step-kid's birthdays straight (I think it's the third? or the fourth?) and they still let me talk to them. But DEERS... now the DEERS rejects are another story entirely.

We needed to get a child's SSN, b/c her mother is a control-freak nutjob and would not give it to DH directly while we were waiting for a copy of her SS card to be mailed. So we went into the DEERS service center & asked for a copy of the DEERS printout, because it has her SSN on it. They would NOT give it to us, saying it's protected info. I said, "So you're telling me, that my DH, who created the child, who got her the SSN in the first place, is not allowed to know the SSN of his own minor child???" They said... YES... So I smiled & we walked to the back of the line again. I came back through the same line, walked up to the SAME lady and said "we need a copy of the DEERS printout for -samechild- to get her a new ID card." She paused, her brain did a couple hicccups & I think I saw an atomic explosion behind her eyeballs, and then she said "OK!" and printed it out! THE SAME PIECE OF PAPER! WITH HER SSN ON THE TOP LINE!

WTF People?!

Free medical care is not to be underestimated, but I occasionally have to question whether all the hoops we have to jump through really make it worth it!

[Anonymous]

I have a theroy that they make it so difficult to use .... so that you won't use it... Just a theory.

[treski]

---

@Anonymous wrote:
I have a theroy that they make it so difficult to use .... so that you won't use it... Just a theory.

---

Exactly!

My TRICARE clinic is shut down for the next FIVE DAYS ... and they told me that if I really need help to go see the emergency room.

Typical pass-the-buck.  I wonder how many people they've sent to overwhelm the emergency room with minor ailments that don't belong there.  So I just went to the pharmacy and got whatever I thought would do the trick over-the-counter.

TRICARE makes me crazy.

[MidnightVoice]

I once talked to my health insurance guy, and he said "The problem with you people is that you think Health Insurance is there to pay for you medical bills.  It is not.  It is there to give you help paying your own bills."

But what can you expect when they get pay increases for denying more claims?

[Anonymous]

I work in the insurance industry.... and its true that there are some people who just nickle and dime insurance companies to death.

This one guy called once with a windsheild claim on a $150k antique porsche it was less than a $1000 claim. I though... my goodness don't you have $1000 in the bank to replace your windsheild.... You own a $150k car for goodness sakes!

He felt it was his "moral obligation" to report the damage

Whatever!

I know that example is car insurance and the post is about health insurance but you would be suprised at how many ways the two correlate