Scary claims

[judecorp]

I was looking up my medical claims online with my insurance company to make sure my fertility consult had been paid. (It had.) I also noticed the claim for all of the bloodwork the fertility clinic had me get: tests for HIV, chlamydia, syphyllis, HPV, gonorrhea, other things like that; genetic testing for cystic fibrosis and Tay-Sachs (I thought it was only common among Ashkenazi Jews but apparently it is also an issue for French Canadians and my mother is of distant French-Canadian ancestry as far as I know); some other stuff I don't remember. They took 6-8 vials of blood /and/ a urine sample that day. It was insane!

So I noticed online that the lab charged the insurance company $1500!! And that the insurance company has paid about $250. The most expensive test was $330 (probably the Tay-Sachs) and the insurance company says it's not covered. They also said that I am not responsible for the bill if the billing source did not tell me that it might not be covered and make me sign some sort of paperwork saying I would pay anyway. And now I'm trying to remember.

I don't know if I signed anything saying that I would pay for anything the insurance didn't pay. I know that the doctor said he wasn't sure if the insurance company would cover the Tay-Sachs test but HE didn't make me sign anything... but I don't know if I had to sign something at the blood lab. I mean, I signed so many things that day!

Argh. My insurance policy says that Tay-Sachs testing is covered for Jewish or French-Canadian descent. I guess if I /do/ get a bill from the blood lab (which I haven't yet), I can just plead Canuck.

Freaking insurance.

Comments

[siercia]

Wow, I had no idea Tay-Sachs was more common among French Canadians. That is some scary ass disease, too. I imagine that I'm probably too diluted at this point to worry about it, but my mom is pretty much 100%. Freaky.

Good luck with the insurance company. Why, given your distance from Canuck-ness, did your doc have you take the test? Did he say?

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I didn't know it was more common in French-Canadians either. But I guess so. I always thought about it as a Jewish thing.

My mother is pretty much 100% too, as far as I know... and I don't know if there is any sort of history of Tay-Sachs in her family because she doesn't really know her father's family at all. *shrug*

When it comes to trying to get pregnant in a lab, they are INCREDIBLY cautious. Hence why I had to be tested for every STD known to man even though I'd been thoroughly tested in the past and have since been monogamous. And why they require any known (non-sperm bank) donor to have a quarantined sample for over 6 months before they can use it. I guess they're required by law to ensure these things.

I could have refused the Tay-Sachs, especially if we're not planning to use a Jewish or French-Canadian donor. They definitely gave me the option. Jen thought it would be best to get it done no matter what, just in case whatever donor we chose hadn't been screened for Tay-Sachs.

[dustyskinandall.livejournal.com]

I didn't even know they tested for Tay-Sachs in people who *weren't* of Jewish or French-Canadian descent.

I guess I'm not done with my doula reading yet... ;)

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

They don't. Or they shouldn't. It was suggested that I get tested because my mother is of French-Canadian descent.

[dustyskinandall.livejournal.com]

Oh! well, now that makes sense...

[amyura.livejournal.com]

I did medical billing one summer when I was in college. This is sooooo common, and it's one of the reasons health care is such a problem in this country. The insurance companies enter into agreements with providers that basically boil down to the providers agreeing to accept whatever pathetic pittances the insurances companies decide to pay for procedures. To make up the difference, the providers jack up their stated prices above what the real cost is. Non-participating insurance companies and the uninsured have to pay these prices. So the poorest people are charged more than the insurance companies of the richer people are paying. Sick and absurd.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I totally hate that, even though I know it's true. I remember once when I needed an MRI and I didn't have health insurance. At the last minute, my mom found some insurance policy that she paid for for about 3 months so I could get my MRI. When I saw what I would have had to pay versus what the insurance company paid, I was so angry!

[therewaslight.livejournal.com]

My insurance policy says that Tay-Sachs testing is covered for Jewish of French-Canadian descent.

Do you have ANY Jewish blood in your family at all? If so, reform may consider you Jewish by blood so....Just kidding.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

In all honesty, I can't imagine I have any Jewish blood at all. Buncha freaking Catholics! (Although my grandmother is Ukrainian and maybe she's got something mixed in there. I don't know too many Portuguese Jews.) :)

[therewaslight.livejournal.com]

That icon ain't Kosher!

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

See? I told you I wasn't Jewish!!