September 5 – “Raymando’s Revenge”

Yesterday I set forth on the journey toward getting my next pair of hearing aids.  When we went to the new audiologist the other day we thought we had done all the research we needed.  The ENT doc in the group was listed as an in-house provider (or however they say that).  We naturally assumed the audiologist, and thus hearing aids, would be as well.  But no.  This was, after all, an insurance company we were dealing with. 

The ear inspection went as well as could be expected, I suppose.  At least the results were consistent with what we have heard before.  “Mr. Vaughan, first of all, you have a profound hearing loss.”  Well, thank you very much for not sugar coating it.  You are within range in the lower sounds, but when it gets into the range that is roughly equivalent to a woman’s voice, your hearing “plummets.”  That’s the word she used.  Plummets.  Great sounding word, isn’t it?  And it matches what my original audiologist has said all along.  That’s confirmation.

She then went into a detailed explanation of what that meant, using graphs and charts. Very informative.  But the sneakiest move of all?  She did the explaining after installing one of the new hearing aids in my ears.  The result was amazing to say the least.  She was able to tweak the settings at many different levels of sound rather than just go louder and softer.  The hearing aid manufacturer coordinated with Apple to connect its usage to the iPhone.  The hearing aids use Bluetooth technology so that when the phone rings and you answer it, the speaker in the phone sends the sound directly to the hearing aids.  You don’t ever have to put the phone next to your ear and get that annoying whine.  And the Bluetooth also has a function where you point your phone at the speaker (say, at a convention), and it will send the voice directly to the hearing aids.  It also has the capacity to detect background noises during a conversation and tone them down, allowing the person’s voice to become clearer.  Sounds magical to me.  Sign me up.

That’s when she dropped the bombshell.  We are not considered a “provider of hearing aids” by your insurance plan.  We can get them, but they will cost $6300 and you have to pay that upfront and file with the insurance company and see how much they charge for out of network providers (“network.” That’s the word I was looking for earlier).  Of course.  She did have her research department track down what coverage we do have for us.  If we chose to go with them … not much.  If we could find an in-network provider, however, the insurance will pay 100% of the cost of the hearing aids.  What? 

So began the search for an in-network provider.  I dug through the website.  Not at all user-friendly.  I finally came up with a list of the nearest ones.  North-central Houston.  Kingwood.  The Woodlands.  Oh, and then we could go to San Antonio.  The nearest one was over 50 miles away.  Great.  I decided to call the insurance company and see if I could talk to a human being.  And that’s where it got … interesting.

The first guy I talked to was Raymando.  Very thick accent.  Extremely hard for me to understand.  After all the preliminaries, he asked what he could do for me.  Here is the essence of our conversation:

Me: “I need to buy some hearing aids.”

Raymando: “Have you tried the generic drugs?”

Me: (long pause) “Drugs?  What do drugs have to do with it?  I want hearing aids.”

Raymando: “Generic.  It means the less expensive prescription …”

Me: “Wait.  Wait. Slow down there.  I don’t want drugs.  This is not about drugs.  Forget the drugs.  Now.  I want to buy some hearing aids.  Where do I go to BUY HEARING AIDS that are covered by my insurance?”

Raymando: “Oh.  You are saying you want to buy hearing aids?” 

Me: (Sigh) “Yes, Raymando, I want to buy hearing aids.” 

Raymando: “Let me put you on hold while I speak with my supervisor.”

Me: “Of course.”

Good ol’ Raymando finally returned with a new phone number, and he actually got it right.  Come to find out my insurance company has an audiology outfit right next door to where I get my hair cut.  In Galveston.  Guess it hasn’t made its way to the website as of yet.  I have an appointment next Wednesday. 

1 Timothy 4:8 says, “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

Father, thank you for the miracle that hearing aids provide.  Please help this whole insurance thing work out. It would be nice to hear with some clarity again.  Amen.