Bills, bills, bills

I am extremely frustrated right now, as I just got off the phone with a bill collector who really had no tact whatsoever.  I understand the woman is just doing her job but if you want to get money from people who owe hundreds of dollars to a HOSPITAL, they are probably dealing with illness and insurance companies, and I think you should show a little compassion.  I know, she's a bill collector.  Why would I expect compassion?

Bottom line is when you are receiving a treatment that costs thousands of dollars every two months and you are in and out of the hospital, there's a lot of paperwork that gets tossed around.  Way too much, actually.  It's hard to remember that every 6 months you have to reapply for pre-approval for this medicine and that treatment.  It's amazing, actually, how hard it is to get approval for Remicade and keep up with the paperwork.  But if I go to the ER and get admitted to the hospital, I never see those bills.  You don't need pre-approval or messy paperwork for a week long hospital stay.  But for me to spend 4 hours in an out-patient office SIX times a year, I need to jump through ridiculous loopholes and insurance bullshit.  It's something that's keeping me healthy, for the most part, but it's damn hard to keep up with.  They aren't sending you reminders in the mail for pre-approval.  No, they are just slapping you in the face with a bill when the time comes.  

Back to my original point.  During the time I was switching from my mom's health insurance to my own plan, there was a period where even though I was still with the same company, I hadn't applied 4 weeks before my infusion for approval.  So yea, I got a NICE hefty bill for my therapy.  I set up a payment a while back but lost track of things.  Basically because I was in DC for a while and I have about 5 other smaller, miscellaneous medical bills I'm keeping track of.  I know, it's my own damn fault.  But it's still frustrating.  

In other news, my first day of unemployment.  It was going great up until I got that nice reminder about how much damn money I owe.  Now I'm off to take a nice long walk because I'm really not feeling great today.  No running for me.