I thought about telling my doctor to write me a prescription for more test strips, but the problem is, the insurance companies expect him to adhere to their guidelines of three tests a day. If he wants me to test more often than that, he has to explain to them why I need to test more often. Most doctors don't have the time or want to be bothered explaining to the insurance companies why they have to do something....especially when he thinks that three times a day is okay.
I ran into a similar problem with the insurance company before, only then it was over a prescription the doctor wrote for me. Up till then, I was having trouble getting this medication, since it had become popular and most pharmacies had trouble keeping it in stock. I had my prescription transferred to Wal-Mart since they had it in stock. The doctor increased the dosage after a month because the dosage I was taking wasn't doing the job. The pharmacist told me that the insurance company might balk at this higher dosage. They did, but he did something and the insurance company okayed it. After another month, my doctor increased the dosage again, and the Wal-Mart pharmacist shook his head and told me that he knew the insurance company wouldn't okay this new dosage.
When he tried to run it through the insurance, they wouldn't accept it, so he called them and they told him they wouldn't accept it. While he was on the phone with the insurance company, he looked at me and shook his head. I told him to give me the phone. When I got the phone, the first thing I did was ask what the problem was. The moron on the other end told me that the dosage my doctor prescribed was more than what was recommended by the drug's manufacturer, and that they thought it was too high.
Okay, that was all I needed to go ballistic. The first thing I said was, "Are you a doctor?"...to which they said no, but there was a doctor there, so they connected me to this doctor. I asked this doctor, "Are you my physician?".....to which she said no. I said, "If you refuse to give me this medication, and I get sick, can I sue you for malpractice?"....they didn't say anything. I said, "My doctor knows exactly what he's doing and I need this quantity of medication, and he discussed it with me before prescribing it. You don't know anything about what my medical situation is, so who are you to tell me what is too much medication? I'm paying you to pay for my prescriptions, not to offer me advice that I don't want! Do you understand that!"....they just said yes. I said "Good, now just pay the d*mn prescription, and shut up! I'm not interested in your opinions, do you understand?"....they said they did.
I handed the phone back to the pharmacist. It's funny, but as I was yelling on the phone, I noticed that the other pharmacists there (there were 4 of them) were all smiling and clapping for me as I was yelling at the insurance company....as if to say, finally, someone is telling them off.
Insurance companies....they make sure they get their premiums on time, but they don't want to pay out any more than they have to and they'll fight you for every penny.
