Refusing to Pay for My Free Breast Pump: The Saga Continues
The power of “Let me speak to a supervisor”
As you may recall, a couple of weeks ago I called my health insurance company to ask why I’d been notified I would have to pay $100 for what was supposed to be my free breast pump.
TFW Your Free Breast Pump Comes With A Bill For $100
The customer service rep said he would have someone get back to me. Someone did — a nice man named Ahmad. Unfortunately he didn’t have much to say.
I replied, saying the same thing I told all of you, only this time in writing.
Ahmad replied again:
Ahmad, buddy, we gotta talk. I have no patience anymore for “policy.” “Policy” is the reason I was told that my newborn, who was supposed to be covered from birth, would actually have to wait six weeks for his insurance to kick in.
The Unconscionable Difficulty of Getting Health Insurance for a Newborn
“Policy” is what triggered the emergency I referenced in this piece, which I wrote just after returning to work.
I am not impressed with “policy,” or your invoking of it, not least because your “policy” is at odds with the LAW. The sentence you quoted reads, “Your health insurance plan must cover the costs of the pump.” That’s not a sweatpants sentence, full of wiggle room; that’s a tight-fitting Lycra kind of sentence. It means one very clear and simple thing.
Here is what I actually said:
And, apparently, I used the magic words. Ahmad replied only once more:
No questions, thanks! Except, I guess, why ten days have passed without my hearing from anyone. Since I haven’t gotten a bill either, perhaps the issue is moot and you’re hoping we can all forget this ever happened and just move on. I’m happy to if you are, guys.
Meanwhile, feel free to share your best “Let me speak to a supervisor” stories! Does going up the chain of command usually work for you? Have the results ever been disastrous?
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