I went to St. Elizabeth's this afternoon to visit Barry. I brought him a hot pastrami sandwich on a bulkie roll with spicy mustard and extra pickles which he requested. Barry is now on the sixth floor in the regular hospital population. He is not in the Detox Unit where I dropped him off on Saturday because his Detox symptoms required higher doses of Librium and Atavan than they typically give on the SECAP unit. (St. Elizabeth's Comprehensive Addiction Program) Today I learned that because he has been out of SECAP for five days, he cannot go back there.........Saturday afternoon, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday = five days in Hospital Bureaucracy. These are rules made by Insurance companies which were not written on Mt. Sinai and need to be changed.
I have made a number of phone calls to long term residential care facilities which I discussed with two social workers and a counselor from SECAP at the hospital today. We are all on the same page regarding what Barry should do after detoxing....long term rehab. Now, it depends on what Barry will choose to do when he comes out of the fog and drugs of detox.
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So frustrating. Despite all the advances in healthcare in our lifetime, healthcare by insurance companies often seems like a step backwards from local doctors making housecalls. In my experience, they're profit-making machines that don't care about the patients or even following their own rules unless they want to. My insurance company billed me for all of, then part of, then another part of my annual free mammogram, even though I used their number one preferred provider and followed all the rules. It took months of calling till they finally "corrected" it. I don't know what the solution is, but I hope Barry is making some progress and things start looking up. Hang in there!
Thanks for sharing that experience, ellen. You summed up the insurance situation nicely - i actually remember a doctor making a house call when I was sick in Dorchester + yes, I did get better - no hospital screw ups !
I don't know what barry will do - he is not on the Detox floor so he really is not getting the help he needs - what a frustrating experience. Thanks a lot for your support Ellen. It really helps.
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