Know it alls....

I’m a billing coordinator for two and soon to be three retail pharmacies. For the most part, it’s not a bad job but it does get very tedious at times. There is, however, something that will set me on edge and make me cringe every time I hear it.

“I got this bill, I don’t owe you money!”

Part of my responsibilities are to send out monthly statements to the various folks who get discharge medications or medical equipment when they are discharged from the hospital. Most have no clue where these items come from despite signing a form stating they are BUYING these items, WHERE the items are coming from and the AMOUNT they owe. It has also been my experience that most people can not, do not, or refuse to understand what their insurance entails. They think it’s this magical, mysterious program that allows them to float carefree through their medical experience without knowing the details of payment or what they will eventually owe. It’s supposed to somehow “get done” without them participating in the process. As if having the rotten luck of needing medical care excuses them from knowing their own personal business.

I’m not going to argue about the medical care or the insurance industry of this country. What I would argue about is that if you have medical insurance, you should know at least the minimum of coverage, that believe it or not all computers are NOT linked together like HAL 9000 and are smart enough to read your lips, and that if you get a bill and you don’t understand why you’ve gotten a bill, drop the attitude when calling and maybe ask politely why you’ve gotten a bill. If I hear the statement, “MY FRIEND HAD THIS SURGERY AND THEY DIDN’T PAY ONE PENNY!” once more, I’m going to start asking what plan those friends have because I want to switch to it.

And, contrary to popular belief, Medicare does NOT pay for EVERYTHING! I understand that most of the “older” generation who are on Medicare think that it does, but it really doesn’t. In fact, Medicare pays for little outside of Part A (hospital coverage). But the policyholders don’t usually bother to figure this out because at that point in their lives they think they know it all. And not only do they think they know it all, I usually can’t tell them otherwise because they no longer listen to explanations.

As to the phrase “I don’t owe you money” or “you’ll get your money”, at what point does the caller think that this is my personal money? I’ve never once thought that when I bought groceries or movie tickets or a car, that when I handed my money to the cashier or salesman that this was their personal money. Sure, at some point it does become their paycheck or commission, but honestly, it is the business’, not the employees. Does the caller think that by personifying the money and being hostile that I’ll say, “oh, that’s ok, you don’t have to pay me back” like I’m a long lost grandmother telling her grandchild to forget about the $5 bucks for the movie? Perhaps if the caller would take some time to know and understand their insurance coverage, less energy would be wasted on being angry and could be channeled into healing thereby removing the necessity of using said insurance to begin with.

Blog for the week of Feb.11th