I’m not going to get into the politics of ObamaCare because frankly I don’t know enough of the specifics but I will say that SOMETHING needs to be done. Just this morning I made what was surely my tenth phone call to the billing department of the hospital where I had Addy. I am personally being billed for the entirety of her delivery because of a medical coding issue. Well, it’s a coding AND a law issue. Let me explain.

I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes during my pregnancy. And, for some reason, the doctor’s office processed the medical claim with gestational diabetes as the primary diagnosis for my medical care. As it turns out, gestational diabetes isn’t covered under my maternity coverage – it’s legally considered a complication and is, therefore, covered under my medical insurance. TomAtoes/TomOtoes, right? Not so fast.

Well, the deductible for my maternity, although quite high, is much lower than the deductible for my medical insurance. And so, because my primary diagnosis was listed as gestational diabetes rather than a regular delivery, which praise God it was, that “complication” was put on the medical side rather than the maternity side of my insurance; I’m being billed for ALL of my hospital stay.

Most of you have children, right? Did you look at your hospital bills? Then you probably get an idea of what I’m being billed.

Of course I don’t get much help from the insurance company because, they say, they only process the claim as it’s submitted. They tell me I have to take up the issue with the hospital. When I called the hospital, they told me that if it turns out that the physician’s office is responsible for the initial coding issue which it likely was, then I’ll have to take it up with them, and ask them to change it. However, at this point, my issue has been referred to the ONE patient liaison who handles such matters and so please give it another two to three weeks. AAAAAAAAHHHHHH! It’s enough to make me want to pull my hair out!

It ticks me off that a pregnancy complication wouldn’t be covered under maternity insurance in the first place. It’s a pregnancy related issue. Pregnancy should equal maternity, nothing else. I went to the ER when I had one of my miscarriages on the advice of my midwife because I was away from home. Wouldn’t you think that this would be covered under my maternity insurance? Nope. It was a pregnancy complication and was processed under my medical coverage. I was charged for the entire ER visit because the bill was less than the deductible for my medical insurance. Bah!

What kind of country to do we live in where a person who sits on the couch anxiously watching Maury Povich to hear the results of another Baby Daddy DNA test gets their medical bills covered while the rest of us pay astronomically for insurance that barely covers a doctor’s visit? It makes me so mad. I know a number of women who have had children on the public’s tab. I know people who have had medical treatment for which they didn’t pay a dime. Who do they think pays their bills?

Ooooh!

I feel blessed that I’m in a situation where I can afford the little insurance coverage that I have. I understand that not everyone is this lucky. However, why is it my responsibility to foot the bill not only for myself and my own but for those who aren’t responsible enough to take care of their own business? I’m not talking about those with a mental or physical illness that legitimately prevents them from working a job that earns them enough to be entirely fiscally independent. I’m talking about those that have become so dependent on the government handouts that they do absolutely nothing BUT mooch from the system – the system that everyone else pays for.

Sometimes I feel like we live in a country that coddles the lazy and dishonest and penalizes those who take huge risks, work hard, and drip sweat daily at jobs they can’t stand.

Aaaahhh Deep breath – hold – and slowly release.

There. Much better.

I guess what it really boils down to is this: I should have known that damn gestational diabetes wasn’t done with me after I had Addy. Everyone said that it goes away after the baby’s born but they were wrong, wrong, dirty and wrong. If GD were a girl I’d slap her in the face.

Word.