Insurance Woes

In August of 2004, I went to my doctor because I was having some relatively constant pain in my left hand. My doctor then referred me to an orthopedic surgeon, who diagnosed it as a combination of tendonitis and carpal tunnel, probably from typing all day at work in a less-than-ergonomic position (I'm a sloucher). He gave me braces to sleep with and exercises to do.

After a while, I was feeling pretty good. I changed jobs, and as a result my desk layout was modified significantly. In May of 2005, my left hand started twitching uncontrollably, so I went back to the orthopedic surgeon. He said this time, the problem was an issue with the ulnar nerve in my left arm; evidently I was pinching it at work. He sent me to the rehabilitative sports medicine place. They gave me some tests and made a dumb elbow brace to wear in conjunction with the wrist braces, along with the admonition that I am not to lean on my elbows at any time.

Now, keeping in mind that my last round of visits occurred in May of 2005, would you be surprised to hear that I'm still going through the motions with the insurance company? First they wanted to know if it was a pre-existing condition (it's not). Then they wanted to make sure that my initial visit didn't occur during a lapse in coverage (it didn't). Then they wanted to know whether I had a referral for the service (I did). The latest round is whether this problem is due to an accident or work injury (it isn't).

The stupidest part is that they already paid the sports medicine place, which was $200 more than the orthopedic surgeon. So they'll pay for the treatment, but not the diagnosis. That makes a lot of sense.