Rattled Cages at United HealthCare today!

I know there are folks that read Greg's blog that don't read mine, so I'm going to copy my entry from today, because I think it's important and needs to be here, as well.   To give a little background, Greg was supposed to have a PET scan today, and our insurance (the company I work for) was delaying it and not giving us the authorization to have it done.   We need to have the PET scan done so that we have the results prior to our visit to the oncologist on April 11th.   The problem is that the "standard" is either a CT scan, or an MRI.  A CT will not show us enough, and Greg can't have an MRI because he has a pacemaker.  One of the people I spoke to today told me that if it doesn't follow the "protocol" that it has to go for further review.  The fact that he has a pacemaker meant NOTHING to this first reviewer, and she basically told me so.   I was at my wit's end.  So please continue reading to find out  what happened today.   It's pretty awesome!   (If anyone's interested in reading my blog, you can find it here:  Mrs. Mik's Blog  )

If you read my previous post, you know that I'd been having problems with our insurance approving Greg's PET scan.  I had been trying to figure out a way to get the attention of someone higher up in the company and not coming up with anything.  Of course, I'd been praying and asking God for guidance.  

This morning, when I logged on at work, I saw on our company intranet site an article about National Doctor's Day.   I clicked on the article and decided that I had to leave a comment!   There is absolutely no doubt about it.  This was GOD directing me!   Here's what I posted:  

Within two hours of my post, I received an email from a woman stating that she had escalated my issue!!!!!  About ten minutes later, I had an IM (instant message) from the Director of the Cancer Team of OptumHealth (owned by United HealthGroup).   He stated that another woman was going to be reaching out to me.  Within 30 minutes, I had another call from someone at United HealthCare.  Jeanne is part of a team that helps its employees deal with issues such as ours.   

Jeanne was AWESOME to deal with!  She spent most of her afternoon contacting people within United HealthCare to find out what is going on and how to get this moving ahead.   When I spoke with her at 4:00, she advised that at 2:00, Greg's prior authorization request for the PET scan was placed in URGENT status.  That meant that they had to have a decision within THREE hours.   

I received a call from Greg's doctor exactly three hours later advising that the PET scan had been approved!  YAY!   

When I was speaking with Jeanne, she advised that she had received numerous emails from "higher ups" at United HealthCare and they are watching Greg's case!   The doctor that I had spoken to earlier in the day also advised that he contacted the head doctor at United HealthGROUP about our situation, as well!   United HealthGroup is #6 on the Fortune 500 and has an operating income of more than $11 BILLION dollars!   The HEAD DOCTOR of that company is now watching our case! No one can tell me that God's hand was not involved!      

Praise God that everything has worked out and we now have numerous people watching over us and making sure that Greg's treatment (whatever it may be), is taken care of properly by our insurance company!  THAT is the company I work for!  Thank you, United HealthCare!