A Blue Cross Does Not Stand for "Helpful"
Nearly a year ago, I shuffled LM off to the pediatrician to have them look at the 5 little red spots on his face. I wasn’t overly concerned about them, but he seemed to be getting a new one each year and the old ones weren’t going away so I thought it was best if we had it looked at. My out-laws (ex in-laws) kept saying it was petichea and that some of them had had it before. The doctor said it wasn’t petichea, but it was broken blood vessels due to stress and that we should see a dermatologist to get them removed (and implied perhaps a counselor as LM must have anger issues).
All of last year I was job hunting, so I was uncertain about my insurance (and therefore LM’s insurance) for the duration. Making an appointment with the dermatologist meant you had to wait at least 6 months and I wasn’t convinced I’d have coverage when the appointment came about so I waited. When I landed my new job in January, one of the first things I did was make all the necessary appointments, and today was the day we were finally able to set foot in the dermatologist’s office.
He looked at LM for no more than 30 seconds and said he has “spider angiomas” which are harmless little red specks on his face where blood vessels have risen to the surface. They are not petichea. They are not caused by stress and they will not go away unless we have them lasered off. Fine. Tell me more about the laser.
Simple procedure, won’t take more than a few seconds and won’t hurt any more than a rubber band snap.
Great, where do I sign up?
Oh, he doesn’t have the laser.
He recommends we call around to other dermatologists or go into Center City Philadelphia (over an hour from us) to Jefferson Hospital and they can do it there.
Great.
I spend half my day calling various LOCAL dermatologists to find someone who has this gadget of a machine. Find one, but she won’t do the procedure until we’ve had a consultation. Consultation will cost me $70. But I already had a consultation. But not at her office she says. The procedure is cosmetic and will cost anywhere between $100-300.
I keep calling.
The more dermatologists I call, the more frustrated I become. Even if they have the equipment, I will probably have to schedule two appointments and it will be at least a month if not two before I can even get in for the first, and keep in mind, none of these are really “local” in the sense that taking him out of school and getting him back and me to work without at least a half if not a full day of vacation wasted is impossible.
I call a plastic surgeon.
In my town.
They do this procedure all the time. They can see him on Thursday (two days from now). They will probably do it that same day (without a separate consult) unless they look at him and think some other treatment would be better.
Cost? Laser runs by time, so 10 minutes equals $100. No one thinks that his 5 spots will take even 10 minutes.
So, Thursday, I will leave work early and rush to the plastic surgeon’s office and hopefully his 5 little red spots will be removed and he will never have to answer “What’s wrong with your eye?” again and then we will rush off to the vet to have Gabers looked at (cause I hate to have to reschedule that, too!)
Moral of the story: plastic surgery is elective, cosmetic surgery. They are apparently in the business of being accommodating. Dermatologists, who have to wait for insurance reimbursements are not.
Note: After our appointment this morning, LM declared that they are HIS blood vessels after all and he’s KEEPING THEM. He wants nothing to do with having them removed. I have assured him, as did the doc, that this is a virtually painless procedure, but he doesn’t see why they have to come off. THIS is the difference between a 10 year old boy and a 13 year old boy. By 13 he’d be begging me to have the pimple-ish-looking marks removed!!
All of last year I was job hunting, so I was uncertain about my insurance (and therefore LM’s insurance) for the duration. Making an appointment with the dermatologist meant you had to wait at least 6 months and I wasn’t convinced I’d have coverage when the appointment came about so I waited. When I landed my new job in January, one of the first things I did was make all the necessary appointments, and today was the day we were finally able to set foot in the dermatologist’s office.
He looked at LM for no more than 30 seconds and said he has “spider angiomas” which are harmless little red specks on his face where blood vessels have risen to the surface. They are not petichea. They are not caused by stress and they will not go away unless we have them lasered off. Fine. Tell me more about the laser.
Simple procedure, won’t take more than a few seconds and won’t hurt any more than a rubber band snap.
Great, where do I sign up?
Oh, he doesn’t have the laser.
He recommends we call around to other dermatologists or go into Center City Philadelphia (over an hour from us) to Jefferson Hospital and they can do it there.
Great.
I spend half my day calling various LOCAL dermatologists to find someone who has this gadget of a machine. Find one, but she won’t do the procedure until we’ve had a consultation. Consultation will cost me $70. But I already had a consultation. But not at her office she says. The procedure is cosmetic and will cost anywhere between $100-300.
I keep calling.
The more dermatologists I call, the more frustrated I become. Even if they have the equipment, I will probably have to schedule two appointments and it will be at least a month if not two before I can even get in for the first, and keep in mind, none of these are really “local” in the sense that taking him out of school and getting him back and me to work without at least a half if not a full day of vacation wasted is impossible.
I call a plastic surgeon.
In my town.
They do this procedure all the time. They can see him on Thursday (two days from now). They will probably do it that same day (without a separate consult) unless they look at him and think some other treatment would be better.
Cost? Laser runs by time, so 10 minutes equals $100. No one thinks that his 5 spots will take even 10 minutes.
So, Thursday, I will leave work early and rush to the plastic surgeon’s office and hopefully his 5 little red spots will be removed and he will never have to answer “What’s wrong with your eye?” again and then we will rush off to the vet to have Gabers looked at (cause I hate to have to reschedule that, too!)
Moral of the story: plastic surgery is elective, cosmetic surgery. They are apparently in the business of being accommodating. Dermatologists, who have to wait for insurance reimbursements are not.
Note: After our appointment this morning, LM declared that they are HIS blood vessels after all and he’s KEEPING THEM. He wants nothing to do with having them removed. I have assured him, as did the doc, that this is a virtually painless procedure, but he doesn’t see why they have to come off. THIS is the difference between a 10 year old boy and a 13 year old boy. By 13 he’d be begging me to have the pimple-ish-looking marks removed!!
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