ABORTION!!!!

Got your attention? Sorry, this isn't THAT controversial.

The Jesus of Cheese sent me this from Digg:

"This story deals with a woman whose health insurance provider denied her emergency room medical claim after she suffered a late night miscarriage. The basis of the denial, they say she had an elective abortion[Emphasis added]. Its this kind of stuff that makes Americans hate the health insurance industry. Digg this and let em' feel the burn."

The same thing happened to me in 1998. Not everyone knows this, but I don't hide it either. I miscarried a baby at 4 months, in December of that year...just in time for the holidays. Merry Fucking Christmas, BeerPup!
My circumstances were not the same as the woman the Digg is about. I had what's known as a "silent abortion." That is a medical term, which means a spontaneous miscarriage which gives no clear indications that the baby has died. No bleeding, cramping, etc. Nada. I was really tired, but most pregnant women are.

I went for my normal appointment, and what was supposed to be our first ultrasound. The JoC and I showed up with blank VHS in hand, excited to "see" the baby for the first time. And we did. The second I looked on the screen, I knew something was wrong. Then I looked at the ultrasound tech who was trying to keep her cool, and I knew it was over. No heartbeat, no movement, and I think I was just a couple of days away from a big, emotional, trip to the ER kind of miscarriage.

They scheduled a D&C for me for the next morning, which I had done. Then I got salmonella and a migrane the following week. I won't go into the emotions about it all right now. It was a REALLY bad week.

Aaaand then the insurance company rejected the D&C claim.

I called and asked why. "Oh, you didn't get the D&C pre-approved."

"Oh," I said. "Well, you see, I had a miscarriage. So you're telling me that my now-dead unborn baby was supposed to tell me that it was going to die? So the doctor could call YOU and see if that's okay? And if you had denied it, it wouldn't have happened? Yes, you're right. Guess I SHOULD have called."

"Oh, I see. I'm sorry..."

"I know why it looks weird on your claims. I did go to the doctor the day before, but only because I didn't know I'd miscarried. And I didn't have the D&C until 12 hours later because I wasn't in immediate danger of bleeding to death. But in a day or two, I would have been."

"Okay, well, then, we'll just re-process this then."

"Good. And if I it gets denied again, or if I have to call you about anything, you can BET I'll be suing you people for mental cruelty."

They paid.