Sunday, May 31, 2009

A Shovelful

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On the IF front, AF is knocking at the door. She is peeking through the windows and waiting for the door to open fully so she can blast her way through. After my last cycle was cancelled mid-May, my Clinic had me go back on BCPs (I guess to bridge the gap until we can start the next cycle). I took my final pill Thursday. I hope to leap right back into taking Lupron, but I bet they will have me take BCPs again to overlap with the Lupron.

Meatball epiphany:

After I wrote yesterday's post about the meatball, it occurred to me that the issue I had with the meatball is the exact same issue I have with our outside monitoring clinic (OMC) charging me a $125 "coordination fee" in connection with a simple blood draw.

The restaurant assistant manager tried to convince me that there were meatballs in the sauce, although they weren't what any 6-year old would recognize as a meatball.

The OMC tried to convince me that they perform certain coordination efforts on my behalf, although they can't identify a single act of actual "coordination." That's because there are none. I do all of the coordination. They do fax in/fax out.
*Note: I may not have posted an update about the $125 fee. The OMC called me back and declined to waive the fee that they charged me for doing an E2 blood draw. The labwork itself was $90, which is fine, but she tried to justify the $125 coordination fee by saying "there are people involved who have to coordinate the blood work." Righto. Mhm.

Both the restaurant assistant manager and the OMC stated their cases with straight faces as though what they were saying made obvious sense and it was me who was being unreasonable. What did I hear when they spoke? I heard, "Here, please...take this extra large shovelful of bullshit and swallow it. Now smile and say 'Thank you, that's just what I needed!'"

Give me a break.
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7 comments:

just me, dawn said...

I hate paying for something that they try to pump up with the wrong description. just freaking charge more for something else....don't lie and make us all think we are crazy. I don't mind high prices as long as I know exactly what I am getting for the price. hoping af isn't too mean to you and that this is her last visit for a while!

K said...

Both are outrageous! Can you eat somewhere else....and go to a different clinic??

stillhopeful said...

Bummer about the coordination fee, I thought you were going to win that one. Sometimes, just a tiny little victory can make you feel so much better... Go back and get those meatballs!!!

Eb said...

such a freakin' scam. I agree with stillhopeful - go back and get the meatballs and then throw them at the coordinator. Hey, I am hormonal!

Anonymous said...

Maybe the meatballs are lost - did they "roll under the table, and out of the door"? (from On Top of Spaghetti, a true classic)

Sorry. I'm a dork. But your post totally cheered me up, even though you still are getting reamed by the lab and have no meatballs (I guess that's schadenfreude!)

looking4#3 said...

I swear people like the manager and billing specialist think they can just talk BS and you will buy it. I think they hang up the phone or walk away and think...."AAAHHHH, the wool pulled over someone else's eyes yet again!!!" That is the part that is the MOST infuriating thing to me!!
Maybe, if you do switch clinics--just send them $1.00 a month to pay the $125!!

Alex P said...

if theyre going to charge you 215 for bloodwork, they should just charge you 215 for blood work, and not pretend it only costs 90.00. its kindof like when you go to buy a car. I dont care what the sticker says on the OUTSIDE, I want to know what the actual COST of the car is going to be, because once you charge me for windows, handles, an antenna, doors, the trunk, all those things that i need for it to be a REAL car, then its way over the ticket price, but I have to buy all those things to recieve a CAR. so just tell me what the car costs. durr. people these days.