Insurance Fiasco

One of the things my new Migraine specialist ordered for me after my first visit was biofeedback. I have to confess that this is something I have not looked very much into until after my appointment.

With only six short weeks until the second visit with my doctor, I didn't have much time to figure out a lot of stuff around biofeedback. Coincidentally, while I was sitting in the waiting room during my first appointment, I had the opportunity to review the post Teri Robert had just submitted on her First Migraine Specialist Visit - 10 Things to Do or Not Do. What better timing could you have than that?

Included in this article were ten things from Teri's new Migraine specialist that he would like us to do or not do on our first visit. Some of the things that her Migraine specialist mentioned were to:

• Be open to ideas that may take you off guard. I know there is good evidence that certain types of therapy can help to actually reduce Migraine. 
• Remember that getting you better requires a team effort. I’m going to give you advice, possibly prescribe medication or other treatments, but you have to do the work. If I ask you to keep calendars, stop caffeine, and take a daily preventive medicine, and you return without doing the first two, don’t blame me for the third not working.

These were actually two big reasons I needed to pursue this biofeedback option - whatever it was. After doing some preliminary searches on what it was, how many sessions would be needed or how much a session would approximately cost, I needed to find out if insurance would cover it. Because of my go around with the dietitian stuff, insurance and my benefits department a couple of weeks back, I decided I would go right to the insurance company this time to see if biofeedback was covered.

Please keep in mind that the following all transpired the same week (mostly the day after) as my specialist appointment. This meant this was a week that I was severely lacking in sleep and was not thinking as clearing as I would have liked to, but I only had six weeks to get moving on this part of the order from my doctor. When I went to the doctor, I was away from home for sixteen hours that day which is way too long for me especially since that includes four hours of driving; two hours each way.

Anyway, I called the insurance company and spoke to Insurance Agent 1 (IA1). I'd say we had a very pleasant conversation, but I think you'd see right through that as IA1 seemed to want to get off of the phone with me at every chance she could. Our conversation went something like this (not verbatim):

MP: Is biofeedback (BF) covered by my insurance policy or would it be covered by our wellness program?
IA1: No, it's not part of the wellness program. (wants to hang up)
MP: I have an Rx for it.
IA1: It would be a behavioral benefit. It's probably not covered by your plan. It's very limited. (wants to hang up)
MP: How would I know if it's covered or not.
IA1: You or your doctor could go to the IC (insurance company) website and search on it. (wants to hang up)
MP: (thinking hahaha my doctor would never!) I'm on the website now and logged into my account. ..... looking for a search bar ..... I don't see a search bar.
IA1: You have to go to the main page of the IC website to search on it. (wants to hang up)
MP: I'm on the main page now and I see the search bar. ???
IA1: Search on CPB. (wants to hang up)
MP: (didn't ask what CPB stood for - didn't really matter as we had a good dialog going at this point!) Ok, I have the results.
IA1: Just look through that and you'll find your answer. (wants to hang up)
MP: Through all 11 pages of search results?
IA1: There is another search bar on that page where you can search on BF. (finally aware that I won't hangup.) I'll log in to look at it..... There it is, if you choose the first item, you should be all set. The first entry will have the covered criterion, but it's probably not covered. (wants to hang up)
MP: If I see my condition (never told her what my condition was) in the top bullets under the section that the IC considers BF medically necessary, does that mean it's covered?
IA1: Yes, but as a behavior benefit. (wants to hang up)
MP: Is that any different than a medical benefit?
IA1: Not really, but you would have to pay your large co-payment.
MP: Ok. (hung up as I had a conference call I had to go on and I didn't trust anything IA1 was telling me from near the beginning of our conversation although I did gather a lot of useful information anyway.)

Great, now what do I do? Ultimately I did get the answer I wanted - that it was covered, but I was not confident in it at all. I did what anyone who was not happy with an answer they receive from a customer service rep does. I waited a few hours and called back again!

This time, I started my conversation a little more intelligently, or so I thought. Our conversation went something like this (again, not verbatim): 

MP: I've looked through the Clinical Policy Bulletin (that's what the CPB stood for, it was on the documentation) and it says some plans exclude coverage of BF. I want to check my plan to see if it is covered. My condition is listed under the section that the IC considers medically necessary.

IA2: (looks through plan) It says it's excluded in a separate provision.

MP: That's where I'm confused. I talked to IA1 earlier and she said it would be covered because it was in the top bulletted items and all I would need to do is pay my huge co-payment.

IA2: They probably didn't look at your plan. (that's an understatement!) It's in a separate provision where it says BF is excluded. I'm sorry if she didn't look at your policy.

MP: I'm not sure if she checked my policy. Thank you for your time. (still don't get the warm and fuzzies!)

So now I've called the IC twice and gotten two different answers. Didn't really like the answer I received from either person; they just seemed a little off, a little quick and conflicting. What should I do now? Where should I go?

I still remember what happened the last time I called my company's benefit department so I figured I would check our company portal. There was some information there. The best part was where the documentation specifically listed BF as one of the different procedures and treatments which would require pre-certification from my IC. To any logical person, this would be an indication that it is covered at least in some circumstances. With this little tidbit of information and conflicting answers, I decided I would call my benefits department before going anywhere else.

Unfortunately, I received exactly the information I expected from them even after bringing up the little bit about the pre-certification. I was basically told that they don't have any information on our plans and that I would have to call my IC. Really? Oh well, here goes nothing. In some ways, I think it was better that I was tired beyond my thinking ability and I was just reacting on remote control. I'm glad I didn't go the other way and start blowing my top.

Alrighty then, I decided I would be up front on the third call to the IC. The conversation went something like this (again, not verbatim):

MP: I don't know if my plan covers something. I've called the IC twice already and received two different answers. The documentation from the portal on my company lists it under procedures and treatments as requiring pre-certification. I have an Rx from my doctor for it. I'm looking to see if BF is covered by my plan. I'm sure you can see my confusion. (that was a mouthful!)

IA3: (reviews plan) We show it's excluded in your plan, but you say it's in your documentation. Can you hold please?

IA3: I'm still looking through your plan. Hold on a little longer please.

IA3: As I look through it, it looks like bio-energetic therapy is excluded, but I need to look further, please hold.

IA3: I'm checking with the rep that deals directly with your company, please hold.
IA3:  Are you looking at the 2012 documentation?
MP:  Yes, it says it's effective 1/1/2012.
IA3:  Please hold.

IA3: Are you sure it's the 2012 documentation? Is the documentation you're looking at a summary document or the plan booklet?

MP: The document says it's effective 1/1/2012.  It looks like it's a summary. That's the only document that was out on our portal.

IA3: Good, only the summary document is available right now; the plan booklet hasn't been printed yet. Please hold.

IA3: The information we have is that it is excluded.

MP: Can I get that in writing?

IA3: Sure, we'll email it to you.

Once again, things still didn't sit right me, but I wasn't going to argue with IA3. She's obviously a puppet in her organization like the other two were. After some conversations with different people in my company, I ended up contacting a director in our corporate benefits area. He said BF was covered and that I should probably get it pre-certified. I also found a section of exclusions in the benefit summary documentation. No where in the exclusion section did it mention BF was excluded, although it did mention that bio-energetic therapy was specifically excluded which is definitely not the same thing.

I've never had anything where I needed to get it pre-certified. So what did I end up doing again? Plus the last thing I have from the IC is that BF is not covered. I called the IC again!

I tried to be as prepared as I could be for this phone call. I had all of the documentation I could think of ready with me. The conversation went something like this (again, not verbatim):

MP: I've talked to a few IC agents and received a few different answers. Although I've been told by the IC that BF is excluded by our plan in a separate provision, the director of benefits in my corporate office said that it is covered, but I might need to get a pre-certification before I get that treatment. How would I go about getting a pre-certification?

IA4: I will need the diagnosis code and the procedure code.

Back and Forth: Gave her my Migraine diagnosis code and only had a general office visit procedural code.

IA4: I'm not showing that you are going to need a pre-certification, but you're going to have to get the BF code from the person that will be doing the BF so we can make sure it is a combination of coding that is covered.

Although IA4 seemed to be the most competent IA of them all, I still have to confess that I am not one hundred percent confident in this answer either. I've made four phone calls to the IC and received two answers that BF is covered and two that it is not covered with a little twist to each answer received. 

As you can see, I am taking very seriously trying to do what my new doctor wants me to try as Teri outlined in her post. If he feels it is beneficial, I have to give it a good try, but I know I have to be careful about not getting all stressed out around all of the BF sessions I would need either.

I'm still curious as to how this is all going to work out and I have my first biofeedback appointment this week.

Have you used biofeedback? What was your experience like? Did you find it helpful? What did you learn from it?