IVF: US #3 & Insurance Frustrations *%&#!

I went in yesterday morning for my third US and blood draw. The doctor said things are looking good and told me to come in again on Saturday. I said, "It doesn't seem like there are very many eggs. Is that ok?" He looked at my records and said, "Anything that is a 10 in size or bigger should be good to harvest." He counted them up and said, "You've got at least 9 or so. That's just fine." He seemed ok with it, so I guess I should just be ok with it and stop worrying.

I talked with a nurse (Crystal) about my medications. I only had a few vials of Bravelle left at home so they supplied me with a box until my insurance sends me more in the mail. On the way home I called my insurance to follow up since I hadn't heard from them since my nurse (Katie) had called in a refill. They said they had no record of the office calling or having a refill. I called RCC and informed Crystal. She said she would take care of it. She called me back later and said the insurance has changed how they do infertility medications and you now have to get a preauthorization for every order and can't do refills. She said they are working on it and should call me, but that if I don't hear from them, to call tomorrow morning. She also informed me later that evening that I would stay on four vials of Bravelle today and do three and a half tomorrow.

I called the specialty pharmacy today to find out the status of my order and tell them to send it to me overnight. They said that the authorization is still pending. I explained the urgency of the matter and she said she would tell them to review it right away. She said I should expect a call within two hours.

Four hours later (still no call), I called back. They said it was still pending and they were waiting on paperwork from the Women's Health Center on the insurance end of things. I told them this was ridiculous since I am in the middle of a cycle and without my medication it will kill everything. I couldn't believe that they were taking so long to authorize something that had already been authorized in the past and was to help me continue on in my IVF cycle. UGH! The woman put me on hold to talk to her supervisor and then we got disconnected.

Obviously, I called right back and spoke with someone else. After talking with her (and being on hold for forever) she explained that it has to do with the dates of the cycle, them making sure I'm still on the same cycle, and determining how much medication to send. She said that sometimes the doctor's office will have medication that they can give me until my insurance sends it out. (Which I already knew...but honestly?! What if they didn't??? What then? Oops...sorry we didn't get your medication to you and your cycle is screwed up. Puh-lease!) I told her I would call my doctor's office and check with them. She told me to call the insurance company directly to see what I could do to push it along. Grrr...so frustrating.

I called the office and spoke with Katie and told her everything that went on since she was gone yesterday. She said not to worry and that they would have enough to supply me with until it came in from the insurance company. She also said she would call them and try to light a fire under them. Ugh. I know I shouldn't complain when it's being covered and everything, but it's just so frustrating when this is a very time-sensitive and expensive procedure and they are dragging their feet about getting me a refill on my medications. Oh, and did I mention that Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day so...yeah...I basically won't be expecting my medications until Wednesday.

Ok...I think I'm done venting. I think I'm also rather furious because I just spent the last 2+ hours dealing with this and didn't even get anywhere. I can think of so many better things I could have spent my time doing. Sigh.