Blogger takes to task some of the regulatory oddities and annoyances that have been created by HIPAA:

The golden rule of medical insurance claims: First, do no thing.

Insurance companies claim to dislike HIPAA (Health Insurance Payment Anti-Acceleration) because of all the bureaucratical red taping it demands, but we know better.

A case in point: my Large, Well-Known Medical Insurance Company has a claim pending since April of aught-three involving a routine medical matter for Gladys. Total charge: $86 (American). Our coverage was new and we didn’t have the insurance card, so we paid the full amount and filed the claim shortly thereafter.

A number of moons go by…

I send in a photocopy with “SECOND REQUEST” on it.

A number of other moons go by and the claim has celebrated its first birthday, so I call up LWKMIC’s Claim Persistance Line and - after some lovely taped ads for them, plus a disclaimer that my call may be recorded to be replayed in the supervisors’ lounge as an employee benefit - get an American (in America) on the line…

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