Today, I had a really bad day.
21Actually, since the end of last September when my mother had a stroke, I've had a "bad day". However, right now, I need some help from some of you knowledgeable Mehniacs. I'm fighting my Mom's long term care insurance company. They have been jerking me around since last November. They have "lost" my claim forms twice and I have now filed for a third time. I get the feeling that they are not going to pay. Any suggestions as to someone or somewhere I could contact to help light a fire under this company?
- 31 comments, 85 replies
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:( Sorry, I don't have any advice on the matter at hand, but I'd like to offer a virtual hug.
Too bad virtual hugs don't do as much as real hugs
@capguncowboy All hugs are very welcome.
@Barney
I don't have any advice, but I'm feeling you on the whole "life is being kind of shitty lately" thing. 2015 sucked and 2016 was supposed to be the good rebound year, but it has been soooo much worse. I'm done with the year already. I hope you find a way to make them pay, though.
@PurplePawprints Looks like you could use one of @capguncowboy's hugs. I hope things get better for you.
@PurplePawprints Big Purple Group Hugs!
I don't know what is going on but it seems to be some crazy shit right now.
I am a crazy optimistic realist with an accent on the optimist but PP is right! I don't know how 2016 could get any more intense for me but I am trying to see it as a cleansing by fire and renewal.
@Barney @PurplePawPrints
If they are a publicly traded company often you can find "investor relations" or some other similar level staffer that might be more willing to help... Don't write the President or CEO as those get heavily filtered. But sometimes you can find executives that actually "execute" or work. Source- clarkhoward.com radio show.
If you get stuck in a phonetree hell, try using the website gethuman.com to talk to real people as well. But I would try the VP's first before trying the callin line.
@therealjrn This was a well respected insurance company when Mom bought her policy in 1994. Since then, they have been purchased by a Canadian company and their call center is now in the Philippines. What a joke! If and when I get through, they put me on hold to "find the info that I need", and they usually end up disconnecting me.
@Barney In all seriousness, start taking names. Document everything, making duplicates, etc. In our company, if you get to the office of the president, your problem quickly disappears. We are not an insurance company, but it is any publically traded company's worst nightmare.
@Barney Well good luck then. Your chances of getting English speaking people might be higher during the North American workday hours...If they have a website there might be press releases or something that might give you leads on the executives. You can also search the business websites for executive names.
Perhaps one of your local TV news stations has a "consumer results" kind of reporter you can enlist in your quest for justice and fair play from the company.!
ETA: What miki said too!
@therealjrn I agree with all of this. Do they have any kind of Facebook or other kind of public sites that you can smear them on?
Have you accessed the health social services assistances, the BBB, etc? I have read that email bombing the executives as well as those involved on the board of directors (and there are instructions on how to do this out there on the web) can be very effective.
When getting someone in the Philippines just ask to speak to a manager immediately. They must comply. Better yet is to find the number of the HQ as suggested above.
If you have to try to get a lawyer involved. It may not cost much to have a letter drafted by a lawyer to get things rolling!
May you have the power to continue fighting the good fight for your mother.
@therealjrn
@Barney
I have zero insurance knowledge....but i would consider local newspaper "fight for the consumer" reporters and columnists, and similar persons at local tv stations. Also, if she already has ongoing care, those care providing companies often have savvy claim specialists. Also social workers can have good knowledge, and nurses as well. Social workers who specialize in eldercare and claim experts at care providers can have an astonishing depth of knowledge, if you find the right person to talk with.
There is also your state department if insurance, which accepts complaints, and supposedly investigates. It might he fair to allege fraud.
If you get an annual report (online and at the library i would think), you can try contacting every listed officer. In addition to the shareholder relations persons mentioned elsewhere, you can try to locate activist shareholders and contact them.
I assume this is a substantial amt of $. Can you hire a lawyer to write some not-so-nice letters? The cost of the letters themselves can be inexpensive.
I suppose you could try to find a lawyer to actually sue them.
Dont just do the call center, altho keep calling them every so often. With them, be persistent and never accept less than you are due. Outside the call center, slowly and implacably escalate, escalate, escalate. Contact more people, file more complaints, document everything, be polite but relentless and implacable.
This will take a lot of time/energy, so you will have to ration the work. If you calmly set out a long term slow battle plan and wont quit, in time you may get the benefits your mom is due.
Also facebook/twitter, as others have mentioned.
I wouldnt mind knowing the name of the company, if you feel able to hint at it.
In the meantime, i'm so sorry you sre facing this fight. Huge purple hugs.
@Barney many Canadian companies like banks and insurance companies have ombudspeople that customers can contact in exactly these situations.
Also, if you feel comfortable sharing the name of the company, I can do some sleuthing from here and see if I can get you a Canadian contact.
@therealjrn @f00l @curtise The Canadian company is Manulife. Their website manulife.ca is a much of a joke as their call center. I couldn't find any helpful info much less telephone numbers to contact. Maybe it's just me...
@Barney
Manulife has a document outlining their Customer Satisfaction and Complaint Resolution options.
They explain all the levels of Customer Service, including providing a Client Relations contact where you can escalate your complaint beyond CR and CR Management. Beyond that, there is an Ombuds office which Manulife considers their top end investigator.
However, for Insurance related issues, if you are still not satisfied after exhausting Manulife's own resolution system, there is an impartial third party OmbudService for Life & Health Insurance or OLHI.
"OLHI may take on your case if, after receiving our final response, you would like to pursue the matter further, or if you have not received our final response in 90 days."
OmbudService for Life & Health Insurance (OLHI)
401 Bay Street, Suite 1507 P.O. Box 7
Toronto, Ontario M5H 2Y4
Toll-free telephone number: 1-888-295-8112 (Canada wide) or 1-866-582-2088 (within Quebec)
In Toronto: (416) 777-9002, or
In Montreal (514) 282-2088
Website: www.olhi.ca
Interestingly, according to OLHI, the officer for Manulife is:
Manulife Canada Ltd.
Complaint Officer Annemarie Lees
500 King Street North
Waterloo, Ontario, N2J 4C6
Canada
Telephone 519-747-7000, ext.246344
ombudliaisonoffice@manulife.com
However, according to the Manulife document, they provide this telephone: 519-747-7000 ext. 248874 or Toll Free: 1-877-318-4054 Fax: 519-747-6325
E-mail: Ombuds.Office@manulife.com
If you want me to do any further digging, please let me know.
My company uses Manulife for both health and RRSP (Canada's version of the 401(k) ).
From your fellow purple-lover... Best wishes, eh!!
@curtise Oh, thank you so much! I kept clicking on their website and didn't find anything that would give me any contacts or telephone numbers. I'm starting to feel so much better.
@f00l This company will owe my mother about 265K if she stays in the nursing home for 5 years. I'm not going to give up on making them pay this claim.
@Barney
Thx for company name.
Re useless website, it's not just you. Likely they do that deliberately.
@curtise I’ve been having trouble with John Hancock not paying the billings for the past two months. (They kept saying that the nursing home had not billed them. Not true, because the nursing home wants their money.) Anyway, I was getting nowhere so I decided to call Manulife in Canada. I got a voicemail and thought, well, I’ll never hear from them. 15 minutes later i got a call! i was given a number to call John Hancock (complaint resolution) in the States.
I called. A real live human answered the phone. I explained the problems I was having (and have had in the past). We exchanged emails and I was ready to wait for however long it would take. A half hour later, I got a call from a very nice guy. He had called the nursing home and spoken with their accounting rep. Somehow or another the fax number was changed and no one told the nursing home. (Hmm, beachfront property in Kansas for sale). Anyway, they have now set up a two tiered system a fax number and an email billing that the nursing home can use.
Also, I had been told that it would take a month after John Hancock received the billings before they would be paid. I had the check in one week. I’m waiting for it to clear before I pay the bill. (Do I trust this company? Nope, not after what they’ve put me through.) But I now have a customer complaint rep that I can contact anytime I have a problem, so that is the step in the right direction.
Anyway, thank you so much, @curtise. I don’t know what I would have done without you.
@Barney Aww shucks, I’m just so glad I could help you out even a little bit!
Sorry to hear that @barney. :( sending you a big hug!
@Barney The suggestions above are very good ones (especially ones that can bring pressure to bear onto a company).
One more is to find which state agency(s) regulate insurance companies in your mom's state, and get in touch with them, and possibly your state's attorney general's office.
Good luck and purple hugs!
@dashcloud @Barney I second contacting the appropriate state agencies. It might be different state to state on who handles what. Where I am there is a state insurance department that handles such things.
But contacting the Attorney General is always good too. Sometimes if you do so and cc letters/emails to the insurance co it lights a bit of a fire under them.
Good luck. Sorry they are giving you a hard time.
They do "lose" things intentionally to try and get people to give up claims. I had a friend who worked for a health insurance agency who told me stories.
@dashcloud @ceagee A friend, who is in the insurance business is going to help me contact our state's consumer advocate.
And when all else fails... and you no longer care about dignity... call the local news channels' problem solvers!
@thismyusername @Barney Even if you decide to not go on camera, they can likely point you in the direction of state agencies and advocacy groups that can help you.
@jqubed yea I mean even if you have to go on camera... agencies and businesses hate being called out on tv to a nightly news viewing demographic... it does get stuff done fast... just, you know, at a cost.
@thismyusername Yeah, this is the last thing I want to do. -sigh-
Check with your state insurance commissioner's office. They will open a case and investigate at no cost to you, and they have the legal power to compel payment. I've done this before and the moment the state became involved the insurance company became responsive.
@mehmarc - I second this suggestion! Let us know what happens, my thoughts are with you.
@KDemo i third this. Worked for me too. And what Mikibell said about documenting. The local news consumer help reporter may also have direct suggestions to help with that co even if he doesn't put your story on air because it isn't going to get him ratings, because he already dealt w that co for someone else.
@mehmarc @barney I work in the financial services industry and this was going to be my suggestion. Involving the media can also help if you don't mind the publicity that may result.
@mehmarc Yes this worked for me when I had nearly a year's battle with my insurance company. I had a good laugh when the attorney there who dealt with my case said she never wanted to deal with my insurance company again. When I had the insurance commission (in the attorney general's office) deal with my problems took her about 6 weeks to sort it out. Good luck.
@mehmarc In case you didn't see my above response, I have a friend who is an insurance agent and he is going to help me contact our state insurance commissioner's office. Thank you for this suggestion.
Thanks for all of the suggestions. I just got a call from the nursing home; Mom fell out of bed (she's okay), but I'm on my way there right now.
I was getting ready to post this before the call:
I'll get back with y'all tomorrow.
@Barney I love that song. Hope things get better for you.
@Barney you and your mom are in my prayers.
@Barney - record everything. Every call. IIRC you're in KS - and it is neither invasion of privacy nor eavesdropping to record a telephone conversation if the recording is accomplished with the consent of either the sender or receiver of the communication. Accord State v. Norris, 502 P .2d 817, 823 (Kan. 1972).
The federal statute covering the interception and disclosure of wire communications is codified at 18 U.S.C. §2511. It requires only one-party consent and states it is not unlawful "for a person not acting under the color of state law to intercept a wire, oral, or electronic communication where such person is a party to the communication or where one of the parties to the communication has given prior consent to such interception unless such communication is intercepted for the purpose of committing any criminal or tortuous act in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States or of any state." 18 U.S.C. §2511(d).
@Pavlov It's even better if you record the part where their call center includes the message "this call may be recorded for quality purposes;" they can't get mad at you for recording something they may be recording.
As mentioned above, try calling or emailing Clark Howard. He is truly a consumer advocate. He has a staff of folks who are there to help. Below is the URL directly to his consumer action center. Best of luck to you and your Mom.
http://www.clarkhoward.com/about-consumer-action-center
Purple hugs, @barney. I don't have any suggestions beyond what's been posted already, but know that you and your mom are on my mind, and I'm hoping that the insurance headaches will be resolved.
I'm sorry about your mom. My mom had a stroke so I know how it is. I hope she does well.
There are some good suggestions here: contact higher-ups in the company, call the state insurance commissioner, contact the State Atty. General's office! (they handle consumer protection), also, talk to the high office of the company providing the long term care. They can make some contacts for you, as well, and usually will since they want to get paid. Don't hesitate to call a lawyer! They can give you info on what to do now in case you need to bring a suit later. Document, document, document!! Name, time, date, length of call, position of the person with whom you spoke and any identifying numbers for them (employee ID, etc.), a synopsis of the conversation, etc...EVERYTHING! In court, if it isn't documented, it didn't happen. Copies of everything and send all correspondence certified mail so that they will have to sign for it.
Please come back and let us know how things are going and if you're making any headway. Also, keep us up on how your mom is doing. Remember to take care of yourself...or you can't take care of her.
I wish you the very best!
Have you talked to anyone at the facility where she is staying? I'm guessing yours is not the first claim that they have seen insurance companies try to duck.
@beachbum If they're not dogging you for money this may be a good strategy.
@beachbum @sammydog When Mom arrived at the nursing home, they were in the process of firing their social worker. They hired another one and she was a worthless as the one they fired. Now they are trying to hire another. I have a very good contact in the accounting dept. who is helping me as much as she can. (Yay!)
Just saw this. I'm so sorry to hear that. Hope everything gets sorted out soon, @barney!
It looks like they hope you give up. If anyone of us has the power and ambition, it's you! Stay purple!
I've heard some friends used an "Insurance advocate" when they had trouble. Someone whose job it was to know the insurance system and work with the companies. Not sure if you can get one or if it would help, but its another option.
I am so sorry for your situation with both your mother and with the insurance company. I just finished a four month health insurance battle, and so did a relative. There is no easy way with this. In my case, I understood my insurance (this is a must), and made repeated phone calls to my insurance company, documenting name, time, and conversation details (believe me, they are documenting also). My claim was repeatedly rejected and I was able to have it repeatedly reviewed. My relative was denied payment for a medical device necessary for their child. They were able to get there hands on policies not typically seen but the consumer (by making repeated phone calls). After the upteenth denial she contacted a supervisor to whom she read their own company's policy (the answer to her was finally, "you're right, it is covered.").
My bill was also paid in full. Insurance companies are a business, and in spite of ads- they do not really care about you. It is their business to make money. Sometimes the people with whom you are dealing do not really give correct information, so it is incumbent on you as the consumer to know your rights. This is very difficult in the time of crises (to handle both your problem and insurance payment), but the responsibility will fall on you (I am truly sorry about that). Years ago, I was told by a billing company for an anesthesiologist, who was trying to balance bill me, that I owed more money, in spite of my insistence that the bill had been paid in full. She said that she did 25,000 billings a year--- my response was that meant she did a lot, but not that she did them correctly. Keep at it. Don't give up and my best wishes are for your success.
@sophi that thing about policies not seen by the consumer is a good point. I read through our policy and would call and theyd say what i had was not everything so i said send everything. They sent stuff but reading through it I'd see references to more stuff i didnt have so i had to call back and say "when i said send everything, i meant everything. Send these 2 things you didnt send last time plus anything else you forgot." im not sure where in the 3 inches of paper i finally saw what i needed for my kid's coverage, but it was not in what they give as the "policy" up front.
And i neglected to send a purple hug earlier, so including here. I'm a bit of a lurker on the site, but you people are a great family who make me smile daily with your games and antics and stories. So know we all are pulling and praying for you.
This might not be much help, but my company offers a benefit for services from http://www.accolade.com/. They are a team of medical professionals that can offer medical opinions and even better, act on your behalf in cases such as this. I've used them several times and can't say enough good about them.
I think that they are available on a consultancy basis and the benefit of having someone in the know, that understands medical coverage, treatments, billing and insurance is huge.
I don't know what it would cost to use them independently, and I'm sure you're reluctant to spend MORE money at this point, but it may provide peace of mind to have an expert on your side that can navigate these ridiculous waters.
Hoping things get better quickly for you...
@ACraigL This is definitely something I am going to keep in mind.
@Barney Please do. My daughter had major back surgery last summer to correct her scoliosis, and they were lock-step with me the whole way, ensuring that each member of the team (i.e. spinal monitoring, anesthesia, etc) was covered by my insurance, and even called a few times weeks later just to see how she was feeling.
It was wonderful having a partner like that during high-stress times where you want to only think about your loved ones.
Glad to see some good-sounding ideas in here. I have none of my own, just wanted to give you my sympathy and purple hugs as well. Hope you can get this resolved soon.
@Barney - The AARP magazine I get has a problem-solving column each month. If they got involved, I bet things would straighten out. But I must have just recycled all my AARP mags, as I can't find any. I will be digging thru stuff today and if I find info on the AARP conduit, I'll pass it on.
@sligett Mom has some AARP magazines at home. I'll check them out. Thanks!
Like many others I have no advise, but I hope things start looking up for you soon.
My mother worked for the phone company as a teller for 42 years (for you younguns, way back when, you used to be able to go downtown and pay your phone bill in person -- gasp!). She never made much money, but she was able to pay her bills and managed to raise her bratty daughter. In 1994, she took out this LTC policy to help with a nursing home care if it became necessary. Over the years, the policy has lost value because nursing home expenses have far exceeded inflation. Where I live, the average cost is now over $80K per year and that does not include medications and other extras such as adult diapers. Even with the insurance, it will also take all of Mom's monthly income and, eventually, all of her savings to cover the monthly bill.
Let me now say; Mom is in an excellent facility. I couldn't ask for any better care for her. Everyone takes an interest in her and I mean everyone, from the lowest aide to the president of the facility. It's the place I want her to be since she can no longer live at home. The nursing home has been working with me in trying to get the insurance company to pay up and there has been no pressure on me to pay. Yet. Discussions are being made to put Mom on Medicaid, if necessary. I don't want to have to do this.
I don't understand why it's such a pain in the ass for an insurance company to pay what they owe. It's a contract. They should have to hold up their end of the deal. Mom has paid her monies. It's time for the insurance company to pay theirs.
Tweet. Sounds kind of lame but couldn't hurt. Tweet stuff containing the company's name and how they're treating you. Do it over and over. Get everyone here who has a twitter account to do the same thing. Let's get this thing viral!
Also hit their Facebook page, if they have one. Get angry on social media. Let's defame this damn company!
Contact your congressman. Shoot off a concise, to the point letter, to him or her. And call them too. Maybe hit your senator as well. Do this especially if they are up for reelection this year.
Write your local paper. Write my local paper! Write the New York Times! I am wicked good at editorial letters. What I write gets published! You can do this.
Hell, call the White House!
@Teripie I love your enthusiasm, but I'm not sure if the twitter/facebook campaign is the way to go. I don't want to defame the company, I just quietly want what is owed my mother. Does that sound weird? Contacting my congressman, however, does sound like a good idea.
Tomorrow, I have a meeting with a representative from Mom's nursing home. I'm going to take all of the suggestions made by everyone here and see what she says we should do.
Thank you, @Teripie, I'm glad you're in my corner.
@Barney
I have never used twitter for customer service issues, but have heard of people who have succeeded there when the usual channels didnt work.
Have read consumer advicate reviews indicating twitter is quite useful. If you go that way, i suspect there is a "how" of doing it for best results, and suspect the "how" is something you could start getting a handle on by googling and hitting reddit.
If you choose to go public, well, if it were me, i would make sure i always sounded rational, factual, and of sound judgment, as opposed to cranky, judgmental, or irate. You can always save those for later.
I should mention i was able to get a 4th stage cancer victim friend a lot of bennies from social security, insurance companies, and various social service agencies because i hung out a bit at the county hospital, got some social workers to talk to me, and bought them a few dinners in exchange for picking their brains. This was 25 years ago. I've lost their names, but still feel incredible gratitude that they took the time to educate me.
To @Barney and to everyone else who has posted here: i am bookmarking this thread just in case. Thanks so much to everyone who has commented.
To @f00l and everyone else here. Dealing with Mom's illness has taught me one very important thing. Make sure you know where ALL of your loved one's important papers are. This includes insurance papers (I have never found Mom's LTC policy, so this has left me at a great disadvantage when dealing with the issuing company), bank accounts, all legal papers, burial plans, keys to safe deposit box, past tax filings -- I could go on and on. I really thought Mom and I had everything covered, we didn't. I'm still looking for a lock box that she has stashed somewhere at her house. This box has lots of important papers that I need. (It's a little house, where, oh where, could she have hidden it?)
Make sure you sit down and have "the talk" with your parents, your loved ones, anyone you will be responsible for if something should happen to them. Don't put if off. Do it as soon as you can.
Love,
Barney
@Barney Best of luck to you! We're all pulling for you here.
@Barney Top shelf in a closet, all the way to the back. Does the house have a linen closet? I'd check there first. Then under the sinks.
@lordbowen I've been in all of her closets so much that I'm beginning to smell like moth balls.
So, here's an update. Thursday, I had a meeting with the lady rep from the accounting department at the nursing home. She's been helping me in my quest for the insurance payment. I told her about all of your suggestions. She was very impressed with y'all and we made plans for a new plan of attack.
When I got home, there was a three page letter from the insurance company stating that they had received my claim. It listed all of the steps that would have to be followed before they would allow the claim. And (surprise, surprise) -- a check! The check only covered the stay for January. There was a new number for me to call. I am now in either a U.S. or Canadian call center. (Yay!) I was told that the October through December billing was being processed and that a separate check would also be sent for February's billing, along with a refund for the premium payments paid starting in October. Wow!
Today, I received the other outstanding checks. (They will now be paying monthly.) They also sent me a statement verifying the the total amount that they would owe if Mom should be in the nursing home for five years.
Thank you all for your help. We would have used most of your suggestions if the company had not finally come through with their payments.
Now... I hope the checks clear. :)
@Barney Congratulations! Let's hope the checks keep rolling in.
@Barney
@Barney
@Barney Congatulatory purple hug!
@Barney fantastic!
@Barney darn it... you have pushed your local news fame to the future.
@dashcloud @mikibell @KDemo @brhfl @Thumperchick I can't begin to describe how relieved I am.
@thismyusername I would have worn purple!
@Barney This is some of the best news ever! I've been reading this for days, and it just made me inexpressibly sad to hear it. My heart is doing a Snoopy dance for you. XXOO
@Shrdlu Aww, thanks.
@Barney :hugs: Hooray!
(Purple flowers from my yard. It's a good thing.)
@narfcake I bet they are beautiful when in full bloom. (I can't grow anything but weeds.)
@Barney Great!
@Barney Most of the green in my yard were weeds, so for these to have bloomed back was a good sign. :)
(I have no idea what flowers they are, but they're purple, so that's good enough!)
@narfcake They're very pretty!
@narfcake They are iris, one of my favorite flowers.
@Barney: Thank you!
@Barney The only way to celebrate such good news is with a big piece of purple rabbit cake
I wish I were talented enough to really send you such a creation. But it's the thought that counts ?
Have a happy Easter !
@ceagee With chocolate milk. Happy Easter to you, too!
@Barney Woo! What a relief! Purple power!!
@Barney I can't tell you how happy I am for you that the insurance company has finally fulfilling their obligation.
@ACraigL @beachbum Last night, I got the best night's sleep that I've had in a long time.
@Barney
I'm beyond happy for you!
Insurance co's will usually come thru, once they know you are prepared to fight them forever. Maybe in your Mom's case, it was a matter of something being mis-categorized in a database, or maybe it was actual nefarious behavior. Who knows?
I'm just to glad you have reached a. point where the battle seems to be nearly finished, and you dont have to carry all the worry.
Now when you are with your Mom, you won't have all that stress in the back of your mind. So i am going to be happy thinking about your happy visits together,
@Barney i would like to have been a fly on the wall in the meeting with the accounting lady..
barney " i belong to this community of mediocre people on a place called meh."
Lady: "sounds like an interesting place."
Barney: " It really is a deal of the day site, but they like purple and are like family... Here is what the collective recommended on how to handle the evil insurance company ..... ....."
Lady: "wow, not very meh"
@f00l Today is going to be a good day. The nursing home is having an Easter potluck get together for the residents and their families. The kids will hunt for Easter eggs and play games. I understand that this is the most anticipated yearly gathering for everyone. I'm going to go and have lots of fun with no worries.
@Barney
Some of those eggs better be purple!
@mikibell Ha ha! I had to be very careful in describing where I hang out on the internet. After all, I had to protect my secret identity!
@f00l I love purple.
@Barney Great news! I'm glad they're finally doing what they were paid to do (not as happy as you are, though). What a relief this must be.
Have a great weekend, Barney and find all the purple eggs.
@lisaviolet I will try to restrain myself and let the kids have the purple eggs. After all, I am an adult. Nah... Purple eggs, here I come!
@Barney
I'm so relieved, but not as much as you are. Apparently the Easter Bunny struck early and often at your house. Whew. Tomorrow you can go to the store and pick up the purple Peeps half price, or I'll get them if you don't want them. And a happy Easter to you and your mom.
@OldCatLady Yesterday, I got to meet family members of the nursing home residents at the Easter gathering, played with the kids by pretending I was going to steal their purple eggs (Pretending? Heck, I was serious.), and I ate until I was stuffed. (There were purple rabbit peeps!) It was a very good day.
Here's the latest update. A few days ago, I received a letter, from the insurance company, notifying me that they have closed the claim for my mother because "Burr Oak Manor Nursing Home" had not sent in the required verification papers (We would have to start over with the claim process). However, my mother has never stayed at Burr Oak Manor, has never considered staying at Burr Oak Manor, has never heard of Burr Oak Manor and will never have anything to do with Burr Oak Manor. In fact, there is no Burr Oak Manor anywhere near where we live. -sigh-
So I called. And waited and waited and waited for a claims specialist. Finally, I got to talk to someone. She had no record in "her" file about this letter, but said she would make a "note" about it. She did, however, have Mom listed at the correct nursing home.
I don't know if this company is really this incompetent or if they just enjoy jerking people around. All I can do now is wait and see if they pay the March billing.
I'm so tired...
@Barney You might want to send a photo of the letter to the actual Burr Oak Manor and call them; they may have a patient with a similar name, and the letter was sent to you in error. http://www.burroakmanor.com/
@Barney So Insane! Sorry for the incompetence! Hugs
@Barney ummmm sounds like their IT is about as inept at mail merges as our HR is..bet they sent it to the wrong customer as @oldcatlady suggested.
@OldCatLady @mikibell Well, they use Mom's insurance ID number and her claim number in the body of the letter, so I'm thinking something is really screwed up somewhere and this is what bothers me. I don't want to have to go through this whole claim process again.
@fjp999 Hugs are always welcome.
@Barney Ugh, what garbage! I believe you're tired… More purple hugs…
@brhfl Purple hugs are very nice.
@Barney -
@Barney Purpley hugs. Sadly, the ineptness isn't unheard of. :(
Here's hoping that the insurance folks get things right this time.
@Barney So sorry to hear your insurance company is being so obtuse. {{{{Barney}}}}