Thursday, February 12, 2009

United Healthcare Leaves Much to be Desired

I am very disillusioned with my healthcare provider. In fact, I plan to speak to my HR dept. about it. It all started when they told me I had no coverage for anything related to diabetes. I spoke to THREE pharmacy agents who all told me this. One of them told me that the only glucometer they ever covered was the One Touch Basic which three pharmacists from various pharmacies told me had not been made in a very long time. Turns out that a wonderful woman who works for CVS, Rosalee got it all straightened out for me while I was at work. I now have all necessary supplies and I even called CVS headquarters to tell them what a great asset she was to their store. Kudos Rosalee and when I have a few extra dollars I plan to surprise you with a bouquet of flowers. The world needs more people like you, who take pride in doing their job AND going the extra mile. I wish United Healthcare had some employees like this because their employees all seem to give the wrong information on a continuous basis. My husband needed a cat scan. Our main doctor's office called them numerous times to arrange the necessary precertification and were told that he was not on my policy. Finally they gave the office manager a number, which appears to be bogus. Adding insult to injury, the idiots sent me a letter with a DIFFERENT precert no and had MY name on it not his. So scheduled cat scan tomorrow will not exist. Good going United Healthcare you have managed to stress me out beyond all imagination in the last month. What I need to do on my time off of work is contantly call your company and get someone who is clueless. When you ask for a supervisor you are told there is a twenty-four hour callback time. Oddly enough, though I have requested callbacks TWICE none have ever taken place. I plan to ask my company NOT to use them again. I paid $603 in insurance premiums in January alone. Do I not deserve some correct information? My cardiologist and I have tried for MONTHS to find a place in network where I can get a stress test. We are given names but when we try to precertify it we are told that in fact, that provider is not in network. Does anyone at that company have a clue what they are doing? I think not.
I used to work for AEtna US Healthcare. Our calls were monitored for accurate information and people who gave out wrong information were let go. We took pride in assisting our customers and supervisor requests were handled IMMEDIATELY and with good results. Shame on you United Healthcare.
You exemplify what is wrong with health care in this country. I will do everything in my power to see you are not my healthcare provider next year.

2 comments:

Virginia said...

When I tried to get a glucometer through insurance, the insurance company sent me to a supplier that sent me one that was going for $19.99 on the market and they billed my insurance $200 for it. I was furious and made a bunch of calls only to find out my insurance company couldn't care less. I guess they are in on these type of scams.

I refused it and sent it back and bought my own $19.99 meter. In the end, its the test strips that become the tremedous cost. The $19.99 meter had test strips that cost about 50 cents each - alas that meter is no longer on the market and most now cost at least $1 per test. Insurance doesn't cover the test strips.

If they can make them for 50 cents a strip, the fact that everyone is selling them for at least twice as much just goes to show how greedy everyone is to "cash in" on the diabetes epidemic.

"Health care" in this country has nothing to do with health and everything to do with profit and disease.

My doctor was complaining that most of her patients' insurance would not cover an nutritionist but would cover gastric by-pass surgery.

I have been talking with my doctor about holistic alternatives, and she doesn't boot me out the door for that. She admits the system is broken and "health care" options are driven by pharaceutical companies goals of profit, not by what is best for people.

There is plenty you can do to manage the diabetes on your own. Reducing stress in your life is an absolute must (easier said than done), as stress will drive your numbers higher. Healthy food alternatives and peaceful walks in the park and getting a good night's rest are tools for you to use. There is no "profit" for the "health care" industry in any of those things, but they all will help you tremendously.

Peace, Virginia

Nelle said...

Virginia,
I did some research and learned that in NJ insurance has to follow a mandate that they cover all diabetic medicines and supplies. I have a 0 copay for the strips. My company covers three visits with a nutritionist and she was very helpful and informative. Several years ago I worked for AEtna US Healthcare and I handled NY patients.When first diagnosed we sent them a FREE glucometer and they had a few to choose from. You would think that these companies would want to help you get and stay in control of this. Thanks for all your information and comments.
Sending my best,
Nelle