some more ranting about docs

I know I have mentioned several times in the past in my blogs how there are only THREE OB docs to choose from with my insurance. I find this lack of choices totally ridiculous, impractical, & totally unacceptable. What tends to happen in situations like this is the docs know they are guaranteed patients based on their insurance & they know that those patients have nowhere else to go, so they can just do whatever & not care & not even do their jobs & the patients just have to sit back & take it (this was one of my big issues with Kaiser when we had Kaiser & it is an issue I have with all the propositions of government regulated/paid healthcare).

So anyways, if you've been following my blogs you may recall that the very first OB I went to I was totally upset with the office & staff & PA (never actually got to meet the doc himself) & I promptly switched over to my only other choice (there is one other choice technically, a guy that works with the OB I'm seeing, but I've been to him in the past & did not like him at all). So these two OB docs are really technically one on insurance forms because they are in the same office. And knowing my luck when the baby decides to arrive my OB will probably not be on call, but the guy I don't like probably will.

So today I get a letter in the mail from the first OB doc I went to. I thought that was odd & opened it to read it. He is hereby notifying me that he no longer takes my insurance. It states that there has "always" been only ONE OB doc on my insurance & because that particular doc was getting overwhelmed with the number of patients that had this insurance group they asked this other guy to step in temporarily. And, well, now the volume of patients has gone down so he is no longer needed & will no longer be available to anyone with my insurance.

So #1--Anyone with this insurance group is now down to only TWO (technically one) OB docs to choose from--even more ridiculous & outrageous than only THREE.
And #2--Had I chosen to continue with this doc for my prenatal care & delivery of my child from my first visit I would now, in my final trimester, be forced to switch over to another doc.

Unbelievable is all I can say......................we really gotta get some PPO insurance................I can already foresee all the issues we're gonna have with pediatricians & lack of choices..........

And just one more rant before I go: in my last blog I stated that I called my OB's office this morning (the very minute they opened by the way) & I was told I would receive a call back this afternoon.............well it's now closing time for them &--yep, I bet you guessed it--no call back. I am sooooo glad I decided to treat myself & I'm gonna call them tomorrow & give them a piece of my mind. And I'll probably still be grumbling about it when I'm there on Monday for my next appointment.

Update for 2/20: So again I called my OB's office the moment they opened this morning & I explained to them how I had called yesterday & was told I would get a call back yet I never did. She promised she would check into it & call me back. About 20 minutes later the same gal called me back & tells me they JUST NOW received the UA results (the results that take less than 5 minutes to obtain & I gave this urine sample on Tuesday morning & it's now FRIDAY!!). She said the doc will not prescribe antibiotics until the culture is received & they haven't yet received it. I reminded her that I am IN PAIN & have been since the beginning of the week (& it's now the end of the week & the weekend is here & I know no one is going to do diddly-squat over the weekend) & she didn't care in the least & insisted that I would hear from them as soon as they receive the culture results from the lab.

As of the time I am updating this the office is now closed & it's offiicially the weekend & nothing will be done til Monday.


I am absolutely speechless................