Guaranteed Healthcare

I was on a business trip and waiting for my transfer flight at Chicago's always-under-construction O'Hare airport. Bad weather swept the nation that day, and even though my morning flight was on time, the connection was delayed hour by hour each time I checked the status monitors. I decided I better quit looking and accept my fate. Walking around, trying to kill time and dodging the construction, I soon realized I had gotten a small wood splinter in the side of my hand. It was deep enough so that I couldn't remove it, and turning red with pain as I tried to weigh my options. With no fingernail clipper, I was a smart traveler and assumed most others were, too. Would one of the shops sell something that I could remove this painful intruder with - yet possibly hijack a plane with? Doubtful. Did I want to leave the security zone and find my relief, but ensure I'd have to strip again, lose track of my flight, and completely ruin my already half-ruined day? Not worth it. I saw a first aid station sign and decided to go there. I followed the signs, pain increasing, from terminal to terminal, and eventually reached my goal. Chicago O'Hare's UC clinic with real doctors, real nurses, and real insurance requirements was a sight for sore eyes, feet, and hand. My company would surely cover my visit as I was on business, and I'd walk out of there with a perfectly clean wound and nothing else to worry about. The doc removed the splinter with a shot of mercurichrome. I paid the deductible myself, and asked the clerk to bill my insurance company for the rest. Now the saga begins: My insurance company refused the $215 clinic fee. My employer refused it as a business expense and told me to open a workman's comp claim. Workman's comp is covered by Liberty Mutual. After sedning them my information and bugging them for a reseponse, they sent me to an industrial medicine office for clearance and the final say. My $215 payment was slowly being consumed by phone calls, faxes, and office visits, but I figured this would be the last step in an absurd and wasteful process. I was cleared, the insurance company deemed my claim payable, and they sent a letter to confirm. But the check never came. After leaving several messages with the claims rep and my company rep, it was clear that Liberty Mutual in Texas would never contact me again, let alone pay $215 for a claim on a splinter. I know many have far more serious health concerns, and I have great fear how someone with a severe injury would be treated by Liberty Mutual. Could they make those daily calls? Would they have the energy to follow up with an unconcerned claims rep? Would a company that couldn't find it in themselves to pay $215 on a valid claim pay $1,000s on a questionable claim? This is just one more example of our horrible system that treats patients like fools and frauds. I wonder how big Liberty Mutual CEO's bonus was this year?