This & That-More Bitching!

Pain - still trying to decide if the Lyrica has any appreciable effect on my nerve pain at the dose I'm taking. Thought there may have been a slight reduction at first but most of the time it's still intense enough to divert my attention to the pain every few minutes. Hard to put it out of my mind. No noticeable side effects at this dose, except perhaps occasionally blurred vision. May just be fatigue.

Insurance - my insurance company responded to my submission of the $1G+ bill for the joystick with their usual confusing statement.

• "The estimate for this expense is approved. Please remember that the actual amount payable is subject to plan coverage limits and deductible that are applicable. To be eligible for payment, the expense must be incurred while covered under the plan. We will assess the claim when we receive a receipt showing the expense is paid in full."

Okay, what does that mean. The expense is approved, but how much of it will be reimbursed is unknown. * Again, the expense has to be paid in full before they will consider reimbursing whatever amount they decide to reimburse you with. Hardly leaves me reassured or confident when dealing with such a significant amount. Again, as with my manual chair, what disabled person has such money floating around to pay in full prior to the insurance company's reimbursment? One of the reasons I pay continuous premiums to the company is so that major out of pocket expenses are covered when needed and so it doesn't drain my finances at that time.
If I have fire insurance for my house and it burns down, do I have to rebuild it with my own money and then submit it to the insurance company to see what portion they'll reimburse after my rebuilt house is paid in full??? Of course it is all how the policy is written but it is clearly designed to discourage eligible people in need from collecting on the policy. The CEOs need their bonuses and the greedy disabled are siphoning off funds!

*I've previously received a statement from this insurance company which read something like 'the item is covered 100% for the usual and customary coverage in your area'
-translating this bafflegab, it says something like 'of the charge you submitted, we may cover only about 10% of the expense but we cover 100% of that 10%.....Huh????

So, the joystick is covered but how much is unknown until I submit an invoice saying it is "Paid In Full". So, after inquiries, I have no idea of how much I am on the hook for. Sure doesn't give me the "piece of mind" the insurance companies try to sell you with all their excessive TV ads!

Return to Work - Finally, almost exactly one year to the day I started looking into returning to work, I have a return date set for September 8th. This year long process required;

• mounds of paperwork filled out - filed or to retract other forms filled previously
  
• doctor's assessment and approval ($120.00)
• 2 hour in home interview which covered topics such as how many rooms I had in my home and what did I have for pets (what the *&$%# does this have to do with my returning to a job I still held?)
• Bean counters and number crunchers at the Insurance Firm ruled that since I want to return to work, they no longer considered me disabled and came up with the date of April 3rd for me to get back to work for on that date my disability pay would cease. It did and I've been coasting on savings and family charity ever since.
  
• had an 'on-site' ergonomic assessment including photographs and measurements. Although my problem is that I can't yet walk independantly, the morons recommend that I need an ergonomic computer keyboard. Don't use one at home, my hands/arms are fine, why?
  
• Improper informatiion from my regulating college meant I had to take a refresher course to return to a profession I've been in for 30 years. Crammed a $350 36 week course into just under 5 weeks.
• Dealt with some unhelpful people at my regulating college to regain my 'practicing status'
• Interview with Human Resources, Occupational Health (2) & Department Director regarding various matters including safety measures. (how to get me out if the department burns down)

All that has taken a full year. Now I just have to get reaquainted with the specific procedures that may have changed since I was there three years ago.