I think when I went to school and actually, up until very recently I was under the impression that the school I pay exorbitant amounts of money to attend should be a) looking out for me b) do everything in its power to help me, at least while I am in attendance.
Tuesday I went to the school medical center for a yearly check up. After filling out extensive information that I'm pretty sure is getting sold to the Government for census stuff I filled out a separate paper for all my insurance information. (I have private insurance, not school issued.) After I came out from the exam room and handed my sheet to the receptionist she says to me, "Okay that will be $90". I replied with, "Are you on crack?" I let her know that I've NEVER paid more than my co-pay of $15 dollars for an appointment at her facility and I wasn't intending on paying anything more than that this time.
She told me that times had changed that she would bump that number down to $40. I continued to have a shit fit and finally paid the bill. I kept asking her why my insurance wasn't going to pay for it and she finally told me that AU doesn't bill insurance anymore. And if I want to learn more about AU's new policy go to www.shove it up yours.edu or something like that, nice. As I turned to leave I made an off-handed comment to another receptionist how I was going to keep my credit card receipt and try to write off the appointment. The first receptionist stops me from leaving and says, "Oh, do you want the form so your insurance will reimburse you?" I'm pretty sure I laughed in her face.
You would think after me pleading with her about the price and my insurance and showing her my insurance cards and filling out insurance information that would've been the first form she had given me to shut me up. But no, just a stroke of luck I walked out with my $40 reimbursement magic paper.
As I left the medical center I decided I would just accept the fact that AU is lazy and won't hire any clerical people to work and file or whatever else has to be done to get their greedy asses paid.
But then I went past the new dorms that were built last summer and saw that AU is landscaping a massive area (which would be a lovely grassy area for Frisbee, reading or sunning), but it just so happens that this grassy area is right on Nebraska Ave. and god forbid something that can be seen from the road looks bad.
I think it may have been that moment that I realized that I have been going to the wrong University. I am going to a school who cares more about the 2 parents weekends we have a year than the thousands of students who actually attend... And I am very thankful I will be done soon.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Keeping Up With the Jones'
Spread the Good Word
Posted by Sarah at 11:48 PM
Labels: american university, AU, dc, health care, health insurance
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4 comments:
Well, I'm not too familiar with AU's insurance policy... but obviously they should be providing the best service available! Anyway...
Thanks for posting comments on my blog during this semester!
Hey there,
Awesome post! I really like reading these insurance horror stories. You write a particularly entertaining one. I agree that the insurance system itself is a little out of control... at least price wise. Medical care should not cost as much as it does in this country, and I feel that we might have a terrible ratio of quality to cost. We pay too much for too little, is basically how it goes.
I, too, have seen the landscaping being done around campus, including that over by Nebraska Hall. I think though, that in comparison with my colleges, AU doesn't spend that much money on landscaping services. I had to choose between attending AU or USC (Southern California), and I chose AU because I wanted a school that spent its money on anything other than its football program, and landscaping. If you've ever visited USC, you'd be able to tell that they spend 10 times as much on landscaping as AU does, and their campus is roughly the same size, I'd say.
Again, nice post. Keep the interesting stories coming!
eight-thirty.blogspot.com -lol.
I was thinking... right now it appears as though your blog only allows comments from register Blogger users. I've set up my blogs to allow posts from anonymous persons, Blogger users, people wishing to go by a 'handle', and other OpenID sources, like AIM, LiveJournal, TypeKey, Wordpress, etc.
Just thought I'd let ya know!
Jeff
I read your blog and frequently chuckled, however, I am sad that you feel the way you do about AU and to be glad you are graduating is even sadder. Isn't college a big business? Don't they have to look good to the passerby? It's like the old joke, a guy trying to sell animal shit, wraps it up in a very presentable, pretty package and voila, a sale is made!
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