Mike and I made it this far with our last specialist, so we have been through the "protocol talk". As we sat through it this time I had a few questions because I noticed things were very different the first time than they are now. One question Mike had was whether they would provide a sharps container and the other thing that I pointed out was that the prescription order did not include needles and syringes, which the previous facility told us were necessary to order through the prescription. Since the woman was filling in for the typical IVF coordinator we thought reminding her was best so everything would go smoothly. As I said yesterday, our meds have now been ordered. I got a call from the specialty pharmacy confirming my order and checking on some things that didn't quite make sense. Her first question was, "Do you already have a sharps container? We do not have a prescription for one." That was followed by, "And, for that matter, do you have your own needles and syringes?!? There were not any ordered for you!" HAHAHAH!!! No... we don't tend to keep needles and syringes around the house... but thank you for asking. So, now I am waiting for the pharmacy to contact the doctor's office so they can get a prescription for the needles and syringes.
The OTHER completely strange thing happened when the specialty pharmacy asked for my credit card number to process my copay payment. I asked for the total before giving the credit card number, thinking that was a perfectly normal request. Well, that was yesterday and I still have not heard back from them. They told me that they did not have a total for me and that if I would just give them my credit card number, they would be happy to "text" me the total when they processed it. WHAT?!?!??!! Text me!?!?!??! I told them that it was not acceptable to me to give my credit card number without even a projected total for my copay, considering we could be looking at thousands of dollars. The total without insurance was estimated at $6,000 - $8,000, so I would really like to know what the total is before giving out that information. I am sure the number is much less, but that is a lot of money and I don't feel like finding out a total is too much to ask!! The woman on the phone said that waiting to release my form of payment could hold up the release of my medication. I told her that I was willing to take the risk at this point. Yes, of course I will call tomorrow before the 4:30 deadline for shipment and inquire as to what the hold up is in determining my total, but I really feel like there is something wrong with demanding a form of payment for an unknown monetary amount.
This came just after we received a bill from our previous facility with white-out on it... the total bill should have been $34. But, they used white-out and wrote in $385. I complained about it to another health care facility, but had not been home yet to contact the billing office in Las Vegas that we were told would need to be contacted... surprisingly, I came home yesterday to a new bill with the correct $34 total! WHAT the HECK?!?!?! Why do super strange things keep happening?!?!?!? I am convinced it is due to insanity in the health care field... there is no other explanation!
Well hopefully tomorrow will bring great news in regards to the new order that includes a sharps container, needles, and syringes. AND, hopefully they will be able to give me a total so that I have piece of mind when giving them my form of payment!!! :) Wish me luck!!
C'mon, you know you have sharps containers attached to the wall below your amazing sconces. :)
ReplyDeleteWacky things happen to Team McVey. It's great to get them written down for later.