I Thought Things Were Finally Going Well, But Then...

[H011yHawkJ311yBean]

I am SO mad!

Great West Life.

They can burn in the deepest levels of Hell.

I can’t vent right now because I’m trying to separate my brain fragments from the crap that exploded all over my walls when it hit the fan this morning.

I’m not sure if I should cry or go dig a
Symbolic Grave for GWL and pour wood and gasoline into it and throw a match into it, etc.


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[GaryQ]

eek:

Big virtual hug time?​

:hide:

 

[forgetmenot]

Fight them ok dam they are the worst i can't tell you the times i would scream uggg

i wish my hsb work place did not switch to them, Manulife was better.

GWL don't want to cover nothing but want proof a hundred times that your claims are legit tiring sending in all this paper work

Hope you fight them because that is what insurance is for fight them ok

 

[David Baxter PhD]

The problem is that fighting them is stressful and they know that. They hope you will just give up and go away.

I recall a case several years ago where the client sued them and the insurer kept stalling and stalling and dragging it out knowing she had a mental health condition and hoping she would give up, but she didn't. When it finally came to her day in court (after 3-4 years!), they stopped her outside the court room and offered to settle.

On the one hand, I was happy for her. Basically, she beat them.

On the other hand, I couldn't help thinking they ought to have given her an extra $100,000 or so for all the hell they put her through those 3-4 years.

 

[GaryQ]

I think it's pretty obvious you can't just lie down as FMN and David stated. Only option left is to fight back.
(I know you know, it's just a bit of extra moral support)

Only reason I'm chiming in is
Sometimes when I hear all the other people's horror stories dealing with insurance companies I can totally feel their pain and fear because I would not have the strength to fight them anymore that some people manage to find. I wonder every single day that passes why they haven't come up with some bullsh*t excuse to cut me off yet. I emphasize yet. For years on end I would start having anxiety about if I'd get my next disability payment the second after I got the current one. Half of my chronic anxiety is caused by the fear of going through exactly what you and so many others have to go through to get what they are entitled to get.

 

[H011yHawkJ311yBean]

Yes to all.

Mind is stuck in a holding pattern of sorts. I was a bit numb for a while. Talked to my sweet David who said those jerks can’t stop your claim and just send you to work... Good pep talk!

Also called Mobile Crisis, they suggested I do something nice for myself because there’s nothing I can do right now until tomorrow... Which is true and is why I’ve sort of retreated from that swirl of thoughts just waiting to set me off. I’ve sort of shoved them behind a wall and gone around the corner and left them there.

I know this stupid crap is there, it feels REALLY uncomfortable knowing it’s so close and might come around the corner and rip my face off and suck my brains out through my nostrils... like the ancient Egyptians... Only a lot faster and messier...


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[H011yHawkJ311yBean]

OK. Let me see if I can explain what is going on. Besides the fact that for about an hour or so I felt like I was moving mechanically, as though I was watching things from inside a machine, and that machine was my body. My brain felt like I was looking at a blank white wall. But somewhere in the background my mind was swirling...

As a rule, I call my psychiatrist’s office, because they are sane and compassionate people and I feel safe doing so. I only email GWL because I can handle the information better that way. Less panic attacks.

I’ve been calling in to my psychiatrist’s office to speak to the receptionists. They are awesome ladies and are great for passing messages from myself to Dr. Andryka (that’s her first name).

I can’t remember the exact date, but a couple weeks ago my psychiatrist’s receptionist read me some notes on my file that Dr. Andryka had left for me. When the receptionist read them to me, it sounded like Jocelyn, the manager at Great West Life, had spoken directly to my psychiatrist and had told my psychiatrist they had all the notes needed to process my claim.

I made the mistake of assuming Great West Life would contact me regarding the claim going through, and I was told the last day GWL could get anything from my doctor/s was June 13th (tomorrow).

So on June 11th I emailed my GWL case manager, Brianna. I told her what my psychiatrist’s office read to me, and wondered what the status of my claim was. I had told Brianna that Jocelyn (Brianna’s manager) had told my psychiatrist on the phone that they had everything they needed.

Brianna replied saying Jocelyn did not approve my claim. Jocelyn obtained information from my physician over the phone however, Brianna had already sent a medical questionnaire to my psychiatrist as per previous requests. To date, Brianna has not received a response.

I called my psychiatrist’s office back to tell them what is going on. Then replied to Brianna, asking for the date these faxes were sent.

I also wanted to know that since GWL failed to send Dr. Papish any specific questionnaires/questions for this entire time that both she and I have been requesting for months, I want to know how this is MY fault or the fault of my psychiatrist.

My recollection was that Great West Life refused a response from Dr. Papish because she had billed them for more than $35, which is the most GWL will pay for. At that time I had sent back an email saying I will happily pay the remainder of the charge, and accept the information that Dr. Andryka had sent.

I told Brianna this in my reply. I told her I sent emails to her AND Jocelyn asking why Dr. Andryka’s data was rejected and that I would pay the remaining $15. But nobody got back to me regarding this.

I said I am now getting help from my Union regarding this horrible experience.

Brianna replied saying she attempted to fax the info 10 times but it kept erroring out. So she mailed the medical questionnaire to my psychiatrist’s office and didn’t receive an answer as of yet.

So this was supposedly mailed out to my psychiatrist on May 14... And I do have an email from Brianna on that date saying she was sending the questionnaire by mail. But I thought she was sending it to my physician’s office, not my psychiatrist’s office...

Brianna said my physician’s office said that I told them not to tell Brianna what Dr. Andryka’s consult notes were, either. That’s complete BS. My receptionist told me that they could not give GWL the consult notes because they were marked “private and confidential, do not distribute.”

And I emailed all of that to Brianna but now she thinks that I prevented GWL from getting the information.

And now I am so confused.

And you are all confused because, well, this is all confusing.

I am trying not to do something stupid like throw my phone or send GWL death threats or start thinking about self harm like, gee it would be so much easier to get run over by a train than deal with this EFFING TRAGEDY OF AN INSURANCE COMPANY!

I took a tiny bit of clonazepam. And then before bed I am taking a little more. The pills are the lowest dose and I rarely need to take a full one. Maybe a half, maybe 3/4. Only 2 times I took a whole pill.

Well, I am going to play with a filter/photo app to keep my mind from reeling off its axis.



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[forgetmenot]

I really hope your doctor can call them and get this all straightened out as said they know they are causing you stress and harm this should not be allowed.

 

[H011yHawkJ311yBean]

I really hope your doctor can call them and get this all straightened out as said they know they are causing you stress and harm this should not be allowed.

So far I haven’t heard anything... Thanks FMN


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[H011yHawkJ311yBean]

Well...

I was sort of in a... I don’t know. It was sort of a semi-zombie fog state.

I felt rather heavy and mechanical, like I had to move slowly because I was on low power mode or something.

Maybe Jesus took the wheel. Or an alien. I managed to drive to the store and back to get milk and a few other essentials and nonessentials.

Got a voicemail from my psychiatrist’s office. Sounds like I may have been enraged/apoplectic about the wrong thing.

If my caseworker had been more clear about a few things, I may have been able to figure things out.

She sent me an email that said she couldn’t fax the medical questionnaire so she mailed it. She didn’t say to whom. I had assumed she had only sent a copy to my physician’s office.

[emoji849] It’s a long story.

I had called my psychiatrist’s office at least once, possibly more, explaining that I needed to have questions sent to GWL by no later than June the 13th - today!!!!

GWL finally told me that a medical questionnaire was mailed to my psychiatrist on May 14th.

I called my psychiatrist’s office and let them know yesterday. Of course my psychiatrist wasn’t in yesterday. lol

So I’m wondering if my psychiatrist had the letter and forgot about it. Which is so frustrating because I’d call in and there would be notes from Dr. Andryka saying she called so-and-so, etc, but nothing about this letter that was mailed to her.

The voicemail from my psychiatrist, Dr. Andryka, was from a receptionist stating that my doctor had filled out the form today and emailed it directly to my caseworker, and it shows on their end that the email they sent was read by Brianna, my caseworker.

Just really exhausted, and I think I’m slowly starting to feel the blood flowing back into my brain once again. It had gone a little cold, but it’s lukewarm now...


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