Miscalculation

I wonder if corporate/government entities hassle senior citizens because they think they can.

My great-aunt has noticed that when I accompany her to her doctor’s appointments--at a county hospital--that information is far more forthcoming than it was when she routinely went alone.

This stems from an incident that occurred when I first started going with her earlier this year. She had been very ill and the office professionals--a doctor and a PA--had given her conflicting diagnoses. So during my third acompanying visit, she and I were sitting in the examination room waiting for one of the professionals. The door was open and her chart was there on the door. Since I had already signed paperwork stipulating that I was allowed to see her medical records and since I have a bit of medical knowledge, I asked my aunt if could look at her record. She consented, so I took her chart off the door. Bad move. The nurse/medical assistant charged in and literally snatched the record from my hand.

Nurse: You’re not allowed to see these.

Me: The paperwork in the front says that I can.

Nurse: You can’t see them without one of us in the room.

Me: Well then you tell your bosses to get the diagnosis straight and I won’t feel the need to have to figure it out for myself.

Needless to say, I am not well-liked in that office. The looks I’ve received on subsequent visits say it all: “Here comes that bald-headed b*tch again.” Heh. That’s exactly the way I want it. Now they know that they can’t jerk my auntie around and the info is flowing like the Mississippi.

This time it’s her insurance company. Having provided my aunt with fire insurance for many years, it sent her a notice that it was going out of business and switched her policy over to another company.

Not long afterward, the new company sends a letter informing her that they were canceling her policy due to part of the roof being flat and due to the security bars having no release latches. Hmm, I’m wondering how they could know that the bars had no release latches, since they never came to inspect the inside of the house. (One day, upon arriving home, my aunt found a business card from some sort of inspector stuck in the front security gate. She had wondered what it was for, since she hadn’t asked for an inspection and no company had called her to inform her that an inspector would come by. Now we know what that was about.)

What I’m also wondering is this: why would an inspector look for the security releases for the bars on the outside of the house?

Additionally, are flat-roof houses no longer to be insured in California?

Anyway, my aunt and I both had our dander up. I took photos of the release latches on the various windows, got them developed, scanned them, faxed them and mailed them along with a superficially polite letter in my aunt’s name. I managed to get in a little scathing commentary without being outright rude. I can do that. :-)

My aunt’s has lived in her house for nearly my entire lifetime--since 1962--and has never missed an insurance payment nor has she filed a claim. (Knowing her, she’s never missed any other kind of payment either.) From the number of years that she’s owned the house, it's obvious that she’s a senior. Do these companies make certain calculations in making their decisions to cancel policies, such as how likely it is that the policy holder will resist being cancelled or how like it is that they will take their grievance up the chain?

As many may have surmised, I like a good fight, especially with those more powerful than myself.

From me they will get the fax, the letter and a phone call on Monday morning (my aunt hates these voicemail trees). Resistance ain’t futile.

Comments

[Francis W. Porretto]

Give 'em hell, babe. Institutions and individuals are at war by their very natures. The institutions' upper hand derives from the disinclination of most individuals to fight back.

Never give an inch!

[Deb]

Doctors. I have come to dread doctors. In my experience, their problem is with females, of any age. I've not had a single doctor I have felt was worthy of trust in over 15 years. I don't go to a doctor without a witness anymore. It's sickening.

Kick their butts!

[teal marie]

Your great-aunt has a great niece. Or is it grand niece? Angel niece? All of the above.
And before you protest that you are no angel, recall how scarey they are to the unjust. You, formidable one, inspire awe. I'll bet your great-aunt feels blessed by your guardianship at any rate.
And I admire the hell out of you! LOL, cracked myself up. Again.

[beth]

Good for you for fighting for your Great Aunt!
You might want to give the State Insurance Commissioner a call on this insurance agency, too. And make sure the Insurance company knows it.

[torchy]

teal marie- So true!! And it takes one to know one too, but don't admire all the hell out of her, she needs a dollop to keep her edge :P

[David Blue]

"You tell 'em love, you tell 'em!"
(approximate American translation: "You go, girl!")

[Fred Schoeneman]

Have you shopped around for a new carrier? Sometimes there are decaffeinated brands on the market that taste just as good as the real thing. I'd hate to seeyou start a fight to get a policy renewed when there are better deals to be had otherwise.

As an aside, I do have some sympathy for insurance companies in california. My Grandmother's house came close to burning in the oakland fires of the early nineties. There were so many burned out homes though, and they were so closely located, that the ambulance chasers actually set up shop right outside the developments in mobile trailers. Most of the time, insurers have figured out what a fair settlement is. They use a mathematical model to figure out how much money they have to pay out, generous enough to keep people from litigating but not as much as a lawyer could get the claimant, and that's what the figure is.

With all the lawyers, and with all the damaged homes so close together, it was a feeding frenzy. The insurers ended up paying 50% to 100% more than they had budgeted when writing the policies.

In any case, I support your efforts to turn the insurance company into your bitch. The adjuster should have warned her, at the very least.

Your aunt is lucky to have you on her side.

[McGehee]

Juliette, I have tended to find it difficult to like people unless I respect them.

You I like. Dang, but I do!

[McGehee]

(And for the subtext-challenged, that means I respect her A LOT!)

[charlotte]

Don't forget the California Insurance Department - they have a unit for consumer complaints, and offices in LA and San Francisco as well as Sacramento. I'm a retired lawyer who worked with an Insurance Dept in another state - the consumer people can be very effective with companies. And they should know what laws pertain to the case - there may be a statute that's been violated here as well as common decency. Good luck.

[joatmoaf]

Doctors are required by law to show you your records when asked, or your aunt, hers.

[David D]

"Nurse: You can’t see them without one of us in the room."

The reason that many clinics have a policy like this is that medical records are written in a jargon that doesn't translate easily to English without training. It's easy for a smart, well-educated person to either miss important information (like ETOH) or focus on mis-understood trivia.

However, everyone should have access to their chart. And there is a segment of the medical profession that does not believe their patients are capable of understanding their medical problems, but it seems that the opinion of the medicos is not the same as their patients opinion.

As far as your Aunts relationship with her insurance companies & healthcare provider goes, I'd say that it has nothing to do with her age, and everything to do with their constant trolling for suckers.

And finally, I must say I like your site.