Ahhh, Insurance Fun

Daddy spent the morning wrestling with the health insurance company over a bill.
William went to the dermatologist in December, to check the hemangioma on his finger. The doctor submitted the bill to Premera. We assumed that Regence(my former insurance) ended at the end of November. Apparently, it ended at the end of December.
So we had presented our Premera cards on this appointment. Premera paid the bill. But then a few months later, their henchmen(Calypso) audited their records and found that they could get $77.06 from our doctor. They told the doctor it was under the deductible, and the doctor would have to get it from us. The deductible part wasn't made clear until my second call of the day. On the third call, Premera said it was because they were the secondary insurer. OK, Nothing about the deductible. I would have to call Regence and find out why they didn't pay. The Doctor's office said that I wouldn't be able to submit the claim to Regence, it was too late. And they reminded me that it was MY responsibility to pay the $77.06. I called Regence, they claimed the Aaron act on this one. New to me, but I could run with that. Apparently Regence only covered Bill for the first 3 weeks of his life, which ended a couple of days before the appointment. Back to Premera, I actually got the same person again. WooHoo! They sensed maybe something was wrong and that they would contact Calypso to have them repay the doctor.
One thing is clear, they are playing games to get people to pay things they don't have to and only pay when you push them.
Each phone call to Premera involved putting me on hold multiple times while they "researched" the case, went to the bathroom, chatted with coworkers, shopped online, etc for all I know.
Of course this is all a ridiculous game, that took about an hour of my time. Everyone was easy to deal with, the Doctor's office was a little testy but they have been getting the shaft, too. But the system is setup to wear you down.

I feel like I won this time, $77.06. But it is about the principle.

These days Health Insurance and Cell Phone companies seem to occupy the place once reserved for Used Car Salesman.