Hanger was super nice and called me to give me the update. They didn't have to call me, they could have waited for me to get the rejection letter in the mail but they didn't. They went above and beyond by reaching out. You could tell the lady from Hanger felt awful. I assured her that I knew it wasn't Hanger's fault... it's just that insurance is frustrating. She agreed, I think MOST people would agree. While it's great to have insurance, it's even better when it works as it should, which I find lately is rare.
What's a mom to do when something like this happens? I wasted no time and called the insurance company after hanging up. I got the run around... "I'm sorry that it was denied, I can tell you that we need more information."
"What information do you need? That she NEEDS one to ensure that she doesn't get another head or neck injury in gym. It provides safety of her wrist joint on the left as well as stability when she's weight bearing on her hands."
"So she can't weight bear on her hands?"
"No sir, she only has ONE hand. Her left arm is shorter which creates a balance issue which then creates a safety hazard."
"Well can she not weight bear then? Just not do the activity or do something else?"
"No sir, she's a 9 year old that wants to do what other kids do. She would LOVE to be active in PE like the other kids but she also had a neck injury due to just being a kid and doing the PE activities. It's like asking you to do a one handed push up when you can't even do a 2 handed push up... she can't do it."
"Can you tell me WHAT other options we have for prosthetics?" Then he proceeds to read me our coverage. I thanked him and reminded him that I too, had already read exactly what he read me and it's unclear and minimal... like 2 lines. He assured me that the medical team was making the best decision for Bella (insert giant sigh and eye roll from me) and that the health care professional could call and have a peer to peer.
"Great I'm a health care professional AND her mom, so I'd love to have a peer to peer."
"No ma'am like the doctor."
"Right because I'm JUST her mother, the one who lives with her every day AND a health care professional."
"Right since you aren't' her doctor we can't allow that."
"So can you educate ME on what her options are or what options would be covered by insurance so I can do some research to ensure that they would keep her safe and functioning like a normal 9 year old kid."
"I'm sorry but I can't, only the medical professionals can do that."
"Perfect I'll be happy to gain some insight from them"
"As I said, only the health care professional can talk to them."
You could say that we talked for 30 some minutes with NO resolution. It's safe to say that after everyone went to bed I cried and said multiple curse words. What the actual F*&^... I will protect and ADVOCATE for my kids until the day I die. So there we are... more waiting. More F bombs in the mean time about how much I love insurance and how the thought of a bunch of two handed people are sitting in a fancy office drinking Starbucks are making decisions about what's best for MY kid. Yes I'm judging them... feel free to judge me too. One thing you can always be sure of, that I will fight to keep my kid safe at all costs. In the meantime, I'll judge and say F bombs, though not in front of the kids... because well, boundaries :)
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