I had soooooo hoped that I'd make it through this pre-surgical hoop-jumping without any major problems. But I called my insurance company today to make sure they'd gotten the pre-authorization and to see if they could give me an idea when they'd make a decision. Nope--they don't have any pre-auths on file for me.

So I called the surgical team, and after being passed to 4 different people and leaving a message at the last desk, I got a call from someone who told me they couldn't send in my pre-authorization because I still had to be cleared by "the team." Who hasn't cleared me that needs to? I asked. Well, it looks like I still need more NUT sessions and another psych appt. So I very patiently explained that my insurance company had specifically said they wouldn't pay for any more NUT sessions, and the nutritionist had told me 2 weeks ago that she was going to send in the pre-auth. Oh, no, young clerk explains, the psych also has to sign off. But 2 1/2 weeks ago, she specifically told me she was not going to require that I come back in because I was done with the NUT and it seemed unnecessary to her for me to travel 2 hours just to "check in" with her one more time--I explained to the clerk.

I had to go through it twice more before she seemed to understand that perhaps this was different from their usual process, because the insurance company standards were different. I assured her that I have no problem with making more appointments, but I need to know that A) they are necessary, and B.) my insurance company will pay for them. She said she'll check with the psychiatrist and get back to me.

So I know it's not the end of the world. But I had really hoped that if there was going to be some incompetence to be overcome along the way, it would come from the insurance company and not my surgeon's office.

OK, venting done. I feel better now.

I just wish insurances would get on the same page with everything. Like they have all the information put into the computer why is it so hard?