Anthem cured my blues !
I became a client of Anthem BC/BS in August when a special enrollment situation arose in my medical care that necessitated a switch from my former Medicare Advantage carrier. I wasn’t really happy about switching and this was my first experience with Anthem. Well, in late August I had to be hospitalized suddenly and from my perspective, Anthem was seamless and their presence was transparent. I was discharged and returned home. About a week later, noticed that my #1 medication was nearly gone and I had no more refills. I would pay SEVERAL Kings’ ransom’s if required because with the medication, I can live independently and be comfortable, but without it, I am a wretched, frightened old man, pacing the floor throughout the night desperately needing to use the bathroom, yet dreading the pain that is commensurate with a malady of the prostrate gland. The latter experience only occurs when my medication is not available. The capsule is small, effective and a thirty day supply costs the pharmaceutical company approximately forty five cents. I don’t even have a copay for it It seems like the perfect solution, yet for the last sixty days, obtaining it has been a ‘perfect storm’ experience. Until I met Sidney…
I began calling my new doctor and they stated that they were not taking new patients. I called one other provider, who let me speak with a nurse. This happened on a Friday afternoon. After explaining the situation, and answering her ‘nursing assessment’ probes, she summarily told me that it wouldn’t be a big thing for me to wait until Monday to come to their office. I was hurt and livid at the same moment! I had to face parts of three days in pain and fear and longing, because not one of the myriad of Nurse Practitioners would lift a finger to look at my records and see that I had taken this medication with no untoward events for nearly a decade. So, I ended up having to visit a hospital emergency department the next day, where the ED Attending Physician wrote me a prescription within five minutes.
Fast forward thirty days. The thirty day prescription expired before I could see my new Preferred provider and I was back between ‘the Devil and the deep blue sea.’ This time I called Anthem and I was ready to engage them in all earnest and let them know what was happening and how unnecessary it was. I spoke with two individuals. The first one told me that she would let me speak with the nurse on call. Before I could say: “Not THIS again!” A lovely voice spiked until my ear asking only one question. She said: “Mr. Mason, do you have the SIDNEY app?” I responded No and wondered why I needed this Sidney person in THIS situation!??
She chuckled and guided me to the App Store on my Apple device and I saw what Sidney was. Sidney is a portal for tele-health and virtual healthcare services. Within three minutes, after I registered on the website Ireceived a text message AND an email saying:
“George, your doctor is ready to see you now.”
This was so surreal! I met with the physician, who obviously had perused my chart and was up to speed with my health situation. He probed about medication allergies and verified my age, weight and height. Then, without missing a beat, he informed me that, not only would my medication would be ready within an hour at the pharmacy which is less than a half block from my house, but the he was giving me ONE YEARS SUPPLY of it because as he put it:
“This medication costs very little, yet it does quite a bit. There’s no reason why you should have to get it monthly. You will get enough of your medication for an entire year.” I didn’t know what I wanted to do, to cry or pee!!! By the time I got off of the phone, the pharmacy had emailed me to pick up the prescription.
Now THIS is how HEALTHCARE at Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is given! If every insurer and provider made decisions as simply and effectively as this, America’s healthcare problems would resolved and the healthcare crisis wouldn’t exist!