Much Needed Rant

Talk about one GIANT CLUSTER F***!!! I had an emergency situation a few weeks ago where I needed an immediate answer and resolve – so I went to an urgent/convenient care near me. I have an HMO plan (never again!!!) with Blue Cross Blue Shield

Knowing how crappy the insurance and medical system is – I CALLED the insurance an hour before my appointment to my sure I was covered.

The name of the facility on the physical/actual location is different than what is listed on BCBS’ lots of acceptable locations in their network. Same address and phone number, different names. Took some sorting but the rep on the phone confirmed that I was covered and that my copay would either be $65 or $100 depending on how the billing was coded.

— EXPERIENCE AT THE URGENT CARE ITSELF—

95% of my time there (~20 min) was me waiting

I was seen by a physicians assistant

she didn’t ask any relevant questions to my issue. I had a large rash on my breast that has gotten worse in 7 days

Just said it wasn’t fungal, whipped out a measuring tape to measure the rash and said “it could be cancer – I advise getting a mammo as soon as possible”

gave me an antibiotic in case it’s a bacterial infection. An antibiotic used for a bacterial infection from breastfeeding. I don’t have kids and I don’t breastfeed….

… now I’m freaking out, under serious duress mentally and emotionally. Scrambling trying to figure out how to get tested for cancer with the HMO. I called the PCP and she refused to see me until five days later.

I ended up called 15+ diagnostic facilities seeing which places I can go without insurance and with the urgent care referral. And 10+ hours of calling and scrambling I found a facility to take me the next day, hour drive.

Next day I go – and I’m told they can’t legally do the testing because of the rash. I have to be on antibiotics for at least two weeks to rule out it’s not something else. And in case it was fungal or bacterial a, they said they didn’t want to infect the machines. Although I would assume these machines are wiped after each patient??? The mammo tech saw that I was very upset and anxious, she brought the dr in the see me. He looked at it and told me it was a classic bullseye rash, likely being lyme from a tick bite. I should him the paper work from urgent care and said I was given the wrong antibiotic, that I needed to see a dermatologist asap, get prescribed doxycycline and get tested for Lyme

So while driving an hour back home, I had to call several dermatologists until I could find one that would take me in same day.

Now…fast forward 3 weeks and $500+ later (medicines, dermatologist emergency visit, lyme test) I get a letter in the mail stating that any urgent or convenient care visit is not covered (the urgent care billed my provider, not the insurance)

So basically I was misled as BCBS told me I was covered but now I’m stuck with the full bill.

A part of me want to turn that PCP into the medical board for medical negligence and incompetence but I don’t want her to lose her job. I also don’t want to pay for a bill where I literally had zero itself service and where this visit was medically detrimental to my health than what actually had arisen. Ugh I don’t know what to do.