January 2014 Moms

Eye Doctor Vent

So 3 Saturdays ago I spent 6 hours at the hospital with Ozzy while he got his eyes checked.  Since he was on O2 and lost a certain percentage of his body weight he had to have his eyes checked for retinopathy of prematurity.  It's a whole long ordeal.  He had stage 0 .... which basically meant there was nothing wrong with his eyes.  They told us to come back for a follow up in 2 weeks. 

That 2 week follow up was supposed to be last weekend.  We found out prior to that follow up that our current insurance doesn't cover these appointments and they're $700 a pop.  So I canceled the appt. not thinking it was a huge deal because Ozzy's eyes were fine.  Well, on Monday my husband and I both got nasty-gram messages on our phones from the eye doctor telling us how imperative these appointments are -- blah blah blah.  I called back and explained that our insurance doesn't cover the cost of the appointments, can we please schedule them the first part of January when the new insurance takes over? The lady was so freakin' rude and basically called me a horrible mother and said there was no way she was rescheduling and I had to show up this coming Saturday.

My husband called the eye doctor's office today to again attempt to move the appointment to the first part of January when our new insurance kicks in.  He, too, is met with the same rudeness.  This time, however, the lady said that if we didn't show up for the appointment that she would call CPS on us.  WTF?!  We explained the situation, asked numerous times to reschedule the appt, etc. It's not like we're neglecting our child.  They are unwilling to work with us.  My husband went a little BSC.  He called our pediatrician's office to find out if they could indeed do this to us -- which they all thought was a little strange.  This late afternoon, the eye doctor office called us back and made a "compromise."  I have to drive an hour tomorrow to be seen in their office and the cost of the visit will be $200 instead of the $700 that it would be if we were seen on Saturday at the hospital.  She made sure to let us know she was doing us a HUGE favor and knocking off an extra $50 off the normal office visit cost (gee, thanks, bitch). I'm so pissed.  I could understand the dire emergency if Ozzy actually had an eye problem.  But 3 weeks ago, he had absolutely no eye problem.  Give me a fucking break.  And to threaten to call CPS on me over it?!  That is completely fucked up on all levels. 

I'm so upset about this whole thing.  I'm sucking it up and taking him tomorrow.  Mainly because I don't want that bitchy lady to call CPS on me for no good reason.  I pay a lot of money for my insurance ... I don't think it's too much to ask to wait an extra week for the new one to kick in so the cost of the visit could be covered.  Do you? I think they're being completely unreasonable and unfair.  They refuse to explain WHY it's so imperative that he be seen right away and before our new insurance takes over -- that's the part that pisses me off so much.


Here's some cheesecake for making it through all that.

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Jacob & Audra - married since 05.28.11
Emma Kate - born 10.16.03 @ 29 weeks, weighed 1lb 13oz and 13.5" long.
Ozzy Joseph - born 11.01.13 @ 31 weeks, weighed 3lbs 7oz and 16" long.
TTC #3
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Re: Eye Doctor Vent

  • silentsiren11silentsiren11 member
    edited December 2013
    Fucking bullshit. So pissed on your behalf.
    Charlotte Lynne ~ Jan. 23, 2014

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  • Fucking bullshit. So pissed on your behalf.
    Thank you!
    _______________________________________________________________________________________

    Jacob & Audra - married since 05.28.11
    Emma Kate - born 10.16.03 @ 29 weeks, weighed 1lb 13oz and 13.5" long.
    Ozzy Joseph - born 11.01.13 @ 31 weeks, weighed 3lbs 7oz and 16" long.
    TTC #3
    _______________________________________________________________________________________

  • Whoa. That is completely uncalled for! I can't believe a doctor's office would threaten you like that! What exactly would they be able to do tomorrow (in the event that something wrong was found) that they couldn't do next week?
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  • Because they are money hungry, I'm so pissed for you. Those bitches. I would have everything in writing just in case they go back on their word about having to pay just $200. Also put it in writing that you asked to reschedule and your insurance policy would have covered it. People suck when all they think about is money.
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  • You bet your ass I'd be complaining to the actual doctor and asking to speak to the office manager about that. Threatening to call CPS is so unbelievably out of line.

  • I honestly don't know how you'll be able to look at them and not be fuming when you go to the office.
    Charlotte Lynne ~ Jan. 23, 2014

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  • Fucking bullshit. So pissed on your behalf.

    This exactly!!! Can you find a different eye doc?
    imageimage
    Mama of boys, Landon (Jan 14) and Harrison (Aug 15).  

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  • jnevin123jnevin123 member
    edited December 2013
    Umm, this makes it even more awful to me. Taken from:
    https://www.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/retinopathy-of-prematurity/overview.html

    "The first exam usually should be 4 - 9 weeks after birth, depending on the baby’s gestational age. Babies born at 27 weeks or later usually have their exam at 4 weeks of age. Those born earlier usually have exams later."

    Glad y'all are going to file a complaint!

    Edited to add: just realized I'm mobile bumping and can't see your signature to see how old your son is. I assumed 3 weeks but obviously he's probably older than that. So maybe he is within that age window.
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  • I am so furious for you! Asking to postpone an appointment by a week is definitely not worthy of calling CPS! I'm glad you are going to say something. I can't even imagine being treated like that. I hope there is another doctor that you are able to see. I would hate to have to give them a cent after what she said to you and YH.
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  • I don't even have words for this… what a bitch! Threatening to call CPS over a week?!? Do they not know that people aren't made of money and $500 is a big deal for just waiting an extra week or two for the appointment. Is there someone you could complain to about this woman's behaviour?


  • Devil's advocate here... she could have just called CPS and then you would have had to deal with that nonsense, since you aren't neglecting your son. She and the doctor must think that it is important enough to not postpone the appointment, although I would agree with others that they should have explained this, and did not act professionally. Hopefully you will be able to find a different doctor who these procedures will be covered through, and who are more professional. Hope the appointment goes well!

    Baby Lexi: BFP: May 12, 2013 (Mother's Day), EDD: January 21, 2014
  • ***comes out of lurking***. I actually work in ophthalmology and have been involved with ROP exams for many years.
    1st, there aren't very many dr's who do ROP exams. Most don't want the liability. It's the highest medical liability of any specialty.
    2nd. The exams are very time sensitive. Things can change a lot in a week. In my personal experience, I've seen things go from stage 0 to stage 3-4 in heartbeat. At that stage it's sight threatening. It doesn't happen often, but it can happen. The highest level of ROP activity is between 38-42 weeks PCA(post conceptual age) Most times ROP is self resolving without any ill effects, but no one wants to take that chance.
    3rd. I have been involved in situations where child services had to be called due to parents repeatedly not coming in for appt. We would try working with the pedi's office first, but sometimes cps does need to get called. It's about the office covering the dr's liability.

    ***goes back to lurking***
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  • I'd be fuming.
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    Baby Chugging born 12.28.13
    induction due to HELLP
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  • ***comes back from lurking** I also wanted to mention that your ins telling you it wasn't a covered service doesn't seem like correct information. This is a medically necessary exam, not routine eye care. If you can get the procedure codes and diagnosis codes the dr's office would use to submit the claim, I would call the ins company back and check if it's covered using those codes.

    **goes back to lurking***
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  • That's ridiculous, if only because if the issue is so time sensitive that waiting a week is not an option and they would call CPS on you, the office should be willing to see you and wait a week to charge you for the visit... So stupid.
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  • I have a friend who received the same type of response from an eye doctor when she cancelled her appointment after receiving an all clear diagnosis. They make it so clear that all they want is their money!! rather than caring for their patients…or non-patients. She checked with her pediatrician and was reaffirmed that she didn't not have to go back. Maybe if the new insurance kicked in 3-6 months later that would be a bigger issue, but a couple weeks?? It's not like you are canceling it all together, you just want to move it a bit. But there is still no need to respond like that after just one reschedule.


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  • I have 6 years experience as a cps worker. Honestly if you are wanting to postpone your test waiting for insurance it wouldn't be a big deal. You could also come back at her & explain malicious reporting. Tell her you feel she is doing it to be spiteful & get money. Tell her you attempted to reschedule due to insurance reasons but unless she can give you a reason that waiting a week would be a life or death situation it would be a waste of Cps & your time
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  • Wow, that's outrageous.  I'm so sorry you have to deal with such a horrible office.  Plus, fuck them for being such scare-mongering assholes.
                        Nathaniel Robert born 1.16.2014
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  • Good grief!  Threatening to call CPS is a low blow, and completely out of line.  So sorry you have to deal with this.
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  • That sucks that your having to go through that. I'm glad that your making a complaint about her behavior,it's completely out of line imo. I hope that you are able to get a new doctor and never have to deal with that bitch again.
  • Wow, I'm so sorry, how frustrating! I think I would have just told them you found someone else covered under insurance and you will be seeing him/her instead.
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