But first, let me tell you all about our "medical challenges" with this program! David is a triple-kidney transplant and the doctors have a really hard time "approving" anything that is NOT Traditional! Alternative medicine, methodologies, etc., are not exactly "approved" by the Insurance Companies.
The insurance companies are dictating how we:
- Live our life
- Manage our bodies
- Heal our ailments
- Whether or not you can have a natural treatment or try a natural product rather than a drug...
- Whether or not they will pay if you have dialysis out of your home state...
That's a true story... In 1997, David was on dialysis (had been for 5 years) and had to have dialysis three days a week (MWF) for three hours each time. David's mom died (on his birthday), and we had to travel from Phoenix to Las Cruces, NM for his Mom's funeral. We had a major insurance plan at the time and when we requested pre-authorization to have them pay for David's dialysis, after much deliberation and discussion and appealing, the insurance REFUSED to pay for his dialysis. The reason was that because he was leaving his home state, the trip was considered "recreational" and we had to pay the amount that insurance would normally cover in our home state.
RECREATIONAL? REALLY? Obviously, the "person in charge, sitting behind a desk" at the insurance company had NO idea what dialysis is and what a person goes through when they endure this life-saving treatment. David had to go to dialysis twice while we were in Las Cruces for his mom's funeral. Las Cruces doesn't have any dialysis centers, so we had to drive one hour to El Paso, TX, get David on dialysis for 3 hours, and drive back to Las Cruces for another hour. That trip took so much out of David. I wish the CEOs of the MAJOR insurance companies could experience dialysis just ONCE - they would certainly change their definition of "recreational" treatment!!
For more information about dialysis and kidney disease and treatment check out the Davita website:
More of our medical "challenges" tomorrow...
sb
