Is no news good news?

Hard to say.

At this point, my insurance company wants a peer to peer review with my surgeon. On either side, I get answers as firm as bowl of warm of cottage cheese.

From my insurance company, I get very few answers as to what it is they are not satisfied with in my pre-authorization paperwork. Seems to be a different answer every time I call. Customer service is polite, but flimsy. They seem to paint the picture, "Gee, all we want is a call from your surgeon, is that such a problem?"

Apparently, it is. It has been nearly a week and my surgeon has not called. I call both the bariatric office and his private practice (he does general surgery as well). The bariatric office keeps saying that they will call me when he can speak with the insurance company and his private practice seemed annoyed that I am asking questions like "Do you forsee an open 10 minutes on his schedule where he may call?" Remember, it is their office, not the bariatric office, that submits the paperwork to the insurance company.

At this point, I'm starting to see things from the insurance company's standpoint. Yes, a week ago they were the crapbags putting me through this and I certainly don't love their non-transparent ways. But apparently, that is the nature of the insurance business. They are the keeper of the keys and they can't be beaten, so why not play to them? If the Doc would make the call, I would at least know where I stand.

I guess that is why I am so disgusted by the federal government's new health care plan. Personally, I'm a conservative. I believe that competition drives down prices and demands higher quality in any product market. In my opinion, the biggest reason health insurance is so expensive is because only so many companies are allowed to do business in a particular state. As consumers, we can't go to another business when we are not satisfied with the services we are getting.

But, after the 2008 election, I thought "Well, we'll soon see if Canada's or England's plan can work here." Doctors, nurses and everyone in health care will be government employees. Sure, our taxes will double across the board, but the health care debate will be over. Don't get me wrong, I consider this a horrible plan and the complete opposite from allowing competition to work its magic, but at least health care would be available to all. This current plan, does neither except make it illegal to not have health insurance and does little to make it affordable. I don't know from what perspective this seems to be a good fix.

Anyway, I went ahead and started liquid shakes again. It seems so much easier. If I get miserable, I'll eat something. But at this point, it is just so much easier taking that guessing game out of the equation.

Oops, it is getting close to 9 am. I do not blog during working hours, so until next time . . .