So I've been waiting for my insurance to approve IVIG for six months now. They denied it the first time and then again even once we got more diagnostic evidence.

#chronicillness #neisvoid #sjogrens

Now apparently they're doing a peer to peer review with my doctor, but my doctor's APN told me they didn't show up for it when it was scheduled last week.

I so badly want to call and just scream endlessly at my insurance company, but I know it won't help.

It's such a racket that my doctor and her team think this could help me, could bring back function and reduce my neuropathy, but insurance, even with the "proof" they wanted, just decided not to cover it.

My doctor is a neuromuscular specialist who is confident in what's going on and has an idea of how to treat it.
My insurance company has never once talked to me about my chronic illnesses, and their "peer" can't be bothered to meet with my doctor.

I can't explain how it feels to have a treatment within reach, to have the promise of so many more good days than I'm having now, and some faceless insurance company gets to decide whether I get the treatment or not.

#chronicillness #neisvoid

Short version:

Insurance companies are the worst.
They shouldn't be making treatment decisions for patients they've never seen.
Really, they just shouldn't exist at all.

I'm pretty sure I know how this will shake out, but if you're chronically ill how many treatments that your doctor(s) recommended have you been unable to get because your insurance denied them?

I have "good insurance" and I've had 2 treatments/tests totally denied, and countless things denied that I was able to appeal and eventually get.

Those appeals and fighting with insurance companies are an extra job that chronically ill people are expected to do but don't get paid anything for.