Insurance Companies...GRRR

First of all, this is just weird:

http://www.hollywoodrag.com/index.php?/weblog/
carrot_top_gets_buff/

Ok, moving on:

Last year around this time I purchased dental insurance for myself. The guy who sold it to me tried to talk me out of it and said that it might cost me less to just pay to have my teeth cleaned than it would be to pay for insurance to cover it. I rationalized insurance because I have a lot of problems with my teeth. I have had many cavities and many fillings. YES I BRUSH MY TEETH!! Some people have more vulnerable teeth than others! Regardless, I should have listened to the guy because this stupid dental insurance has been nothing but a nightmare!

Imagine a sunny day in March. I get on the internet to find a dentist who is contracting with my new and "awesome" dental plan. I find five names on the internet within a 50 mile radius that are contracting dentists with my insurance company. YAY! To my delight, one of them happens to be 25 minutes away in Celina, OH. I set an appointment with the dentist and go there to get my teeth cleaned and to get xrays on my mouth. All of this was covered by my new and "awesome" dental insurance. I leave the dentist with a new clean set of teeth and a bright smile on my face. Little did I know that the smile was all in VAIN!!

About a month or so later I received a letter in the mail stating that the insurance was not paying for the bill and I was responsible for incurring the charges. I thought this was strange and it angered me a little. But I figured there must be some mistake because my new insurance policy was "awesome". I called the dentist office to see what the problem was and the very polite and friendly receptionist informed me that the insurance company was not covering the charges. She said they take Unicare but Unicare was only going to pay about 6 dollars of my $110 bill. I hung up with her and immediately called Unicare (that's the name of the insurance company) to see what the deal was. I called them and they told me that the dentist was a contracting dentist and they would sort everything out.

About 4 months later I called the dentist to set another appointment, figuring that everything from the prior appointment had been worked out. When I called, the receptionist informed me that she has tried to get the insurance company to pay and has sat through many frustrating phone calls with them and they told her that I was responsible for the charges. She said that they are NOT contracting dentists with Unicare. I told her that their name was on the Unicare website as a contracting dentist but she said that it shouldn't be. Well, this made me very irate. She also told me that she sent some information in the mail for me recently and that I should receive it shortly. When I received the information the receptionist wrote this:

"Travis I've spoken to your insurance company several times. I'm unable to get them to pay anymore towards your account. As the insured you are responsible for the balance which your insurance does not cover. I've enclosed a copy of the claim form and the EOB (Explanation of benefits)".

I called Unicare again to work out this problem. I explained the issue to the lady at the insurance company and she told me that I was not to find contracting dentists on the internet but I was to call them to find out. WHAT!?? This pissed me off. That is when I went to the insurance agent that sold me the insurance only to find out that he no longer works for the agency. So a very nice lady was gracious enough to help me with my problem.

I explained everything to the lady and she called the insurance agency. I was very concerned to know how I was supposed to know that I was supposed to call Unicare to find contracting dentists? I just assumed that if they were on the website then they were contracting. The lady (we'll call her Jane) talked to one of the idiot monkeys at Unicare and told her my concerns. This is when they magically figured out that, oh, Dr. Ramsey (the dentist I went to) is no longer a contracting dentist and that they made a mistake and they would cover the charges. They said that his name should no longer be on the website and they would remove it immediately. So, unlike what the lady I talked to at Unicare said, the dentists on the website are contracting dentists. So what was the lady I spoke with talking about??? And why couldn't they have figured this out when I called or when the receptionist at Dr. Ramsey called?? This should have been my first clue to immediately cancel my policy with Unicare. Well, unfortunately, I didn't. I figured that I wanted to at least get my money's worth out of the insurance before I cancelled it. There were 4 other dentists to choose from on the website within a 50 mile radius. I could just pick from one of them. HA! This story has just begun.

So I figured I would let the whole Dr. Ramsey thing blow over and let the insurance company pay for my bill before I would go ahead and set up another appointment with one of the other dentists. So, a few days ago (about 4 months after the last issue was settled) I went to the Unicare website to find a dentist. This time I would make sure that the dentist was indeed a contracting dentist by asking the dental office if they were CONTRACTING dentists with Unicare and also by calling Unicare and asking them. The first thing that caught my attention was that Dr. Ramsey's name was STILL on the website as a contracting dentist! I called Dr. Ramsey and asked them about it thinking that maybe they had decided to sign on with Unicare. The nice receptionist told me that they had not signed on with them and they have told Unicare to take their name of the site several times. This was ridiculous! Then I decided to try the other 4 doctors. One of the doctors was located in Muncie. That's only about 40 minutes away so I called him. They also told me that they are NOT contracting dentists with Unicare. Then why is their name on the website next to Dr. Ramsey who is also NOT a contracting dentist?? This was frustrating. But there were still 3 to choose from. Ok, dentist 3...number no longer in service. Um, ok. Dentist 2...number no longer in service. Oh my God. Last dentist...number plays random rock music and nothing else. I figured it might be a number to a drug dealer. You call and they call you back to see what you want to order...Green or White T-shirts. So NONE, I repeat NONE, of the dentists on the website were contracting or even available.

So I called Unicare (again) and talked to one of their monkeys and the lady on the other end brought up her information to give me the names of contracting dentists in my area within a 50 mile radius. She proceeded to give me the same names of the same 5 dentists I just saw on their website. NO, I said. Dr. Ramsey is not contracting and neither is Dr. Kloer (the second dentist I talked to). The other three numbers didn't even work. She told me that if they were on the website then they were DEFINITELY contracting. I told her that she is an idiot and she's not listening. I told her that I had called the dentist offices and they told me they were definitely not contracting. I also told her that about the issues I had with one of them in the past. She puts me on hold. Apparently while I was on hold she went to her magic file because when she came back she said that I was correct and those two dentist were NO LONGER contracting with them. DUH! They just hadn't updated their information yet. How long does it take to update information!?? I had informed them of an error 4 months ago and it still hadn't changed. This was ridiculous. I looked on the internet to see if there were alternate numbers to the dentists I couldn't get a hold of. I found a couple of numbers. I tried one and got an answering machine. I tried the next one and I got a hold of an old man (sounded about 85) at home who claimed to be the dentist but didn't know the difference between a zip code and an area code...either he had alzheimers or he had just lost his mind. Either way I didn't want that man working on my teeth. Ok, back to the insurance agency.

When I got back to the insurance agency the lady who helped me the first time was still there. Great. I sat down and explained my situation and she tried her best to work something out for me. She called the insurance agency and talked to them and they gave her the same run around they gave me. Finally they came up with a dentist that I could go to...65 miles away!! I have to drive 65 miles to go to a dentist who is contracting with Unicare!! That is unacceptable. I told her that the reason I signed on for the insurance was because there was supposedly 5 dentist within a 50 mile radius. She sympathized with me but there really wasn't much else she could do.

So, here I sit, with a broken tooth (yes, I broke a filling in October eating Halloween candy) and dirty teeth. I just want to get a cleaning with a contracting dentist and get my tooth fixed. But is driving 65 miles even worth it?? It's just all very frustrating and I do plan on reporting this with the Better Business Bureau and writing to Michael Moore. Granted, this isn't as huge as an insurance company screwing somebody over with cancer and leaving them with a 50,000 dollar bill because they forgot to put their b-day on the registration form. But it's still annoying. Needless to say, do NOT get insurance through Unicare. BARF!

I'm BAAAAAAAAACK

Back with a vengeance, so to speak. No, but seriously...where have I been? Wouldn't you like to know! Actually, I've been doing a whole lotta nothin. SHOCK! I am trying to grow my hair out...which I hate. I'm going to let it go another few days and if it doesn't get any better then it's gone. It doesn't help that I have to shower in liquid metal. My hair doesn't really like that. I essentially have to use an entire bottle of conditioner just so my hair doesn't dry out and look like something from a Rob Zombie flick. Speaking of, have you seen "Devil's Rejects"? What a wretched movie that was.

I will be posting within the next couple of weeks my favorite films of 2005. I still have to see a couple and then I will make my decisions. Then I will be posting my annual oscar predictions and review. I cannot wait for the oscars! It's my super bowl.

Travis On TV:

I've been watching Desperate Housewives, Lost, American Idol, and Prison Break (well, I will be when it restarts). I never use to watch TV but there is not much else to do around here.

*Possible Spoilers*

Desperate Housewives: This show certainly has it's ups and downs this season. I missed the first few episodes but I was caught up so that I could start watching again and not have to wait for its release on DVD. I think the shows problem right now is it's superfluously lame subplots that only last an episode. There are just too many of them. Focus more on the mystery through line that is lying below the surface. That is what made the first season so good.

Lost: This show also has it's ups and downs. I find myself bored during some episodes. BORED!! Bored watching LOST!! There is just way to much going on and there are far too many characters. They need to kill off about 10 people so we can all just focus on the important ones. I also don't like that Dominique Monaghan (sp?) has turned "bad". And can somebody PLEASE kill Michelle Rodriguez's character?? PLEEEEEEEEEEASE!?

American Idol: American Idol is the equivalent to crank in my book. It's complete and utter trash but it's also IRRESISTIBLE.

Prison Break: What was this show about again? Oh yeah, a prison break. Duh. I almost forgot seeing how FOX hasn't had an episode in months!! The show was good back in the fall...but it wasn't great. Let's hope that the hiatus and the shows success motivate the writers to come up with some exciting twists and turns! Yeah baby!