Retire Early Lifestyle
Retirement; like your parents, but way cooler

In 1991 Billy and Akaisha Kaderli retired at the age of 38. Now, into their 4th decade of this financially independent lifestyle, they invite you to take advantage of their wisdom and experience.

Death by Paperwork

My Intimate Journey with Cancer Part 17

Billy and Akaisha Kaderli

Working with Bureaucracies can be a tangled web

No one ever tells you this or maybe you already know.

It’s hard enough to be ill dealing with pain, doctors, hospitals, money flying out of your pockets, and trying to keep organization about the whole thing that makes some kind of sense.

I’m here to inform you that the medical payment system and sometimes your brokerage accounts are rigged against you.

They are filled with fraud, delay, and people who give you canned answers from a script, instead of listening to what you might have to say.

I know that’s a heavy accusation, but I currently have FIVE “cases” pending and this has been going on for months. The total might not be much, (over $1,100USD) but they have my money, and I want it.

Upload, download, physical letters explaining the issue

Yes, I have done all of those, with one instance, I submitted my proof of payment nine times. With another, I have made countless phone calls, submitted paperwork four times and yet there has been no solution.

They still have my money.

While the health insurance company agrees the payment has been made, incredulously, they insist it wasn’t me who paid… and we go in circles once again.

What’s a person to do?

This particular amount I mention is small. It’s “only” $199USD. Am I obsessed? Am I being picky? Should I let this go?

When I go back through my history with this health insurance company, I see that I have submitted appeal after appeal after appeal. This is not a one-off situation. It’s a pattern. They keep the money, then deny the patient.

What would you call this?

It’s hard to actually admit that there is so much fraud and graft in the paperwork system that one cannot retrieve their rightly due amount unless through extraordinary means. Most people would probably give up, as many hate paperwork, or don’t know how the system works. Or perhaps one simply gets exhausted and lets the whole thing go. If you were to charge the insurance companies or the brokerage houses for the time you have put in, it would come to pennies on the dollar.

With insurance companies, payments of checks promised in 90 days have already taken 120 and the company is callous about this.

With brokerage accounts, the call centers have never heard of “a currency exchange error”, have never been out of the country themselves, and do not possess a passport. They figure their evidence supersedes mine, plain and simple. Yet, I was overcharged $496USD in this erroneous exchange. Should I let this go also?

The call center's lack of experience in world travel is stunning.

My whole point to this

If you want your money back from these institutions, you will have to fight clearly, objectively, and persistently. These companies have no interest in giving your money back, because it is too easy for them to keep it.

It goes back into their kitty, with a convoluted manner in which to retrieve it, so you give up, exhausted. Website pages don’t work as promised, and meanwhile bills that you do not owe keep showing up with promises of a collection agency coming your way.

What does this sound like to you?

I’m calling it out as fraud and graft.

If there was any kind of forward movement, I would have relief, but there is none.

In a situation such as this, you can choose to do what you would like. My sisters call me their “sweet bulldog” because I won’t let go. But is that good for my health? I could back off, let the bureaucracies have their money and someone there will pilfer it. Sadly, this has been happening for decades and we as patients and customers are the ones who suffer. 

For more information, pricing and perspectives on my Stage Three Breast Cancer journey, click here

Retire Early Lifestyle appeals to a different kind of person – the person who prizes their independence, values their time, and who doesn’t want to mindlessly follow the crowd.

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