Rant, Rage and Scream

Un-fucking-believable!

I just spent the last 45 minutes—let me rephrase that——wasted the last 45 minutes trying to find out why Apria Healthcare was billing me $87.25 for "equipment" that I could purchase on my own for between $18.25 and $27.73, depending upon which vendor I chose to purchase from.

$87.25!!!!!

That is roughly 3-5 times the "actual retail price" of the goods. And their answer for why it was that much: "That is a contract price negotiated with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois." Who the fuck is the BCBSIL purchasing negotiator?

What makes it even more infuriating is that right on the statement, Apria lists the "New Charges" on my account for the quipment, then an "Adjustments" column, then the "Patient Balance." The total for the "New Charges:" $17.45; then everything gets an "adjustment" added to it that is 4 times the "New Charge" value (totaling $69.80), making the "Patient Balance" 5 times what the "New Charge" was: $87.25.

WTF?!?!?!?!

Talk about price-gouging! Talk about fraud! Talk about consumer rape!

But I am sure this is a pittance compared to what is really going on out there. To borrow a phrase coined by my boss: this is the "Normal Ream Rate."

I'm not sure why this enraged me so much—and enrage really is the right word. I am livid. And it's not so much about the dollar amount; I am blessed and fortunate and can afford to pay it. I think there are three parts to it:

1. the blatant inflation of cost (fraud, price gouging, misrepresentation, deceit);
2. deep in my gut I know that there is most likely nothing I can do about it (helplessness, lack of control, powerlessness);
3. knowing that there are many, many people out there who are in need of much more important equipment/services/drugs that might be able to afford it if it weren't so insidiously inflated (injustice, bureaucracy, missing the forest for the trees).

I don't know what I can do about it. I do feel very small and very powerless. Who can I talk to? Who will listen? Who can affect change on a system that is so far out of whack and has been, I'm sure, for a very long time?

If I go back to Apria and tell them to bill this to me as an uninsured consumer, will they give me the "New Charges" rate? Most likely it would be some other "adjusted" rate——possibly even higher than the BCBSIL contract rate, because god/dess knows those without insurance have such deep pockets. And I'm not too hopeful that they would be willing to rebill—especially since I have "seen behind the curtain."

*sigh*

What a way to start a beautiful weekend. I have to find a way to get into a better mood.