The Broken Soldier

I’m having a myelogram tomorrow.  It may sound strange, but I’m actually sort of happy having my spine punctured again.  The procedure itself will be far from pleasant, and so will the three days, at least, after.  This procedure can, in fact, kill me.  But it gives me one more piece of ‘hard’ evidence to justify my doctors’ opinions.

The appointment was almost cancelled.  I got a call from my neurosurgeon’s office billing secretary.  She voiced concern, and shared the concern of the clinic performing the procedure, that previous attempts to process claims through TriCare had failed.  The reason they were given was that I was not eligible because I was not on active duty.  This in spite of having an approved LOD on file, as well as a pre-authorization for this treatment/diagnostic battery from HealthNet/TriCare.

I did my best to clear up confusion and to put the secretary’s mind at ease.  She along with several others had been calling our state Health Services, but weren’t having much luck getting through.  I thought I might have better luck.  I called HealthNet, and was told there was nothing the person I spoke to could do about my problems.  I was given another number to call.  This person too was unhelpful, but gave me the number to the MMSO.  The guy at MMSO wasn’t helpful either.  He and the others claimed they couldn’t help because they had no access to any of my authorizations or anything else.  They suggested I work through my MTF.  Over an hour on the phone and no help.

Luckily my neurosurgeon’s biller had received a call from someone, I don’t know who, verifying to her satisfaction that my appointment would be covered.  But the rigmarole experience outlined above raises important, though obvious questions regarding how well this system works.  This experience is, however, what I’ve come to expect.  More stress.  More aggravation.  Multiple levels of dysfunctional bureaucracy.  Lots of government salaries.  Lots of cushy government jobs.  Not much, if anything, in the way of help.