02.02.10
Feeling like I’ve moved again.
I called Madigan to make an appointment and was told that I wasn’t assigned to a Doctor. After several more calls to investigate what the problem was I found out that I had been kicked out of Madigan. This was surprising since I had been told that I could use Madigan as my primary care facility.
Maybe I should go back so you can understand. We came home from Germany in July. One of the first things we did was to go back to Madigan and set up our insurance for stateside care. We left thinking all was in order. A few days later we came home to a message that we needed to go back, they had made a mistake and we needed to pay some money in order for our insurance to take effect. It didn’t mean I’m uninsured, just that I can’t make appointments. We went in and were told instead of being able to make appointments in August we would have to wait until September, which was fine because, really, at the time I didn’t need to go in for anything (except the ophthalmologist, who I am supposed to see every six months). They told me who my Dr. was going to be and which clinic I needed to go to.
Fast forward to January. I call, and was told they had kicked me out and that I needed to go to a civilian practitioner. That is fine too, except, I have to find one. Which I am doing today. Or not doing today however you look at it. I have a list, some of the names we immediately crossed off usually because they were orthopedists, or nephrologists. That left a few on the list. We called some, no answer, only for inpatient etc. I may not be able to find anyone in time for me to get my medications. Yes, I have a deadline.
What bothers me the most is how much you get hassled when you are trying to work with Tricare. Their name is a misnomer, they should be we don’t care. Why didn’t I receive a letter last September telling me that they had dumped me? Why don’t they give a separate list for all those who are currently seeing patients who don’t need an orthopedist or a nephrologist, just list of pcps who are accepting new patients?
We had the promise of health care for the rest of our lives. I guess I should not complain. You get what you pay for and we don’t pay that much. I just wish they were more organized so that I could have been working on this problem last September instead of thinking I had all my bases covered.
Now, about the title of this post. Every time we moved we had to start all over again with figuring out where things were and how things worked. I am sure it made me a better person. I am not so sure that it was helpful to all our children. I don’t know if it is a revelation to them how difficult it was for someone like me to pick up and start all over again. They were all troopers and never complained much even if they had to leave a good bunch of friends. Now I feel as if I’ve had to move and reestablish myself. It isn’t a good feeling for me, kind of upsetting and overwhelming, but mostly just unexpected.
I promised a vacation blog with pictures. I haven’t forgotten the promise. However, I wasn’t the only one in the family on the trip. How about some of you others do the blog. I will use the excuse that I can’t figure out how to post pictures.