With all the negative press of late surrounding United Airlines, I thought I’d share a little of my own drama about another “United”…United Health Care. Today, my daughter, Bethany, drove down from Dallas to Houston to attend the funeral of the mom of one of her high school youth group friends. As I was waiting for her to swing by afterwards and have lunch with my mom and me before heading home, I was sorting through the mail. I opened a letter from United Health Care, one of many that we get on a regular basis…usually noting all my individual tests, labs, etc.
This one caught my attention because right in the middle of the page it read,
“Type of Treatment…Hematopoietic progenitor cell (HPC); allogeneic transplantation per donor.” Oh, wow! This is the approval letter for my DLI, donor lymphocyte infusion. It’s not worded quite the same, but that’s what this is!! Then I looked at the previous section noting the details and one line stood out.
DOLLAR AMOUNT: $0.00
What?!?! What do you mean $0.00???!!!! I read the letter front and back, over and over, and it continued to say $0.00! Needless to say, I was in shock, overwhelmed, mad, upset, worried, totally in control, and losing my mind. I called my handy customer service number and spoke to Kristen (who I am going to officially adopt!). I explained the letter I had just received and read. I told her about my leukemia, my 2012 stem cell transplant (which Blue Cross Blue Shield paid for), my 2015 CAR T-Cell trial (which UHC paid for), and how the ENTIRE STEM CELL TEAM AT MD Anderson had agreed that this procedure was what I needed so that I could hopefully live more than two years or so. I said that there is a small window in which to do this procedure because I still need to HAVE donor cells left to boost! If they choose to deny this request for coverage, they are basically signing my death sentence.
She asked if I minded holding for 3-5 minutes? “No. I’d be happy to.” During this time, Bethany got home, made our sandwiches, and the three of us were sitting at the table. At that point, I asked her to pray. She and mom started praying, not just for lunch but for this situation, for these people making a life or death decision. My life! Before Bethany even finished praying, Kristen came back on the phone and thanked me for holding. She said that there had been a horrible mistake and offered her most heartfelt apology. My procedure WAS, indeed, deemed medically necessary and the acceptance letter had already been mailed to MD Anderson. The letter I had received in error was for an incorrect procedure code or something. I asked if she could please send me a copy of the acceptance letter for my files. ☺
I had maintained my composure this entire time. Once the call (and the survey) were complete, I totally lost it. Tears of relief and “what if’s” flowed. Even though this procedure was not what we had originally planned for, we are convinced that it is what God has for me, and I was devastated to think that the financial hand of man could thwart the plan of God. How silly of me! Nothing can hinder the hand of God.
So it is with a deep breath and sigh of relief that we forge ahead. Insurance…check. Donor…check, check. Our God, Savior, Redeemer, One Who Walks with us every step of the way…check, check, check!
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