Baha Frustration...

We still have not gotten Shae's own Baha, so she's still using the loaner from the hospital. Last Tuesday, I got a call from the insurance verification department at the hospital who said that we do not have insurance coverage for hearing aids. Which is a true statement. However, the Baha is classified by the Food and Drug Administration as an auditory prosthetic, and I do have Durable Medical Equipment (DME) coverage at 100%, which encompasses medical equipment and prosthetic devices. Therefore, the Baha should be included under that section of the policy. The insurance verification specialist is using a "Hearing Aid - other, unclassified" code instead of the Baha code. For some reason, that's the way the hospital "has always billed it." Of course, my argument is just because that's how they've always billed it doesn't mean it's right. And now it has been seven weeks since I *thought* the Baha was ordered. Turns out, they don't put the order in until they have preauthorization that the insurance company is going to pay for it. So I have spent an entire week making phone calls to the hospital, the audiologist and the insurance company. And it's still not resolved. But I do feel that the hospital is doing everything they can to help me. Our favorite audiologist Rebecca is - as always - the best, and she's gotten both the audiology supervisor and the billing supervisor involved. I got a return call today saying that they are going to do whatever they can to bill the Baha under the code the insurance company will approve. In a round-about way, it sounds like they will get the order placed - hopefully soon. And even if the insurance company denies it and I have to spend a year appealing it, I will get Shae her Baha somehow, whether I have to beg or borrow (I draw the line at stealing!)