When we were going to spend the night in the hospital for something we knew about in advance, we had to call the insurance company and “Pre-Certify” the stay. And in an emergency, we had to notify them within 28-48 hours after admittance, depending on the carrier.
When we knew we needed certain kinds of medicine like Claritan,
Monistat, or Prilosec, we had to go to the doctor, and pay him to write out the prescription, and then take it to the pharmacy to have it filled.
As time went on, most of these drugs were available over-the-counter without a prescription, and the provider called the insurance
company on our behalf.
Guess what! Blue Cross has re-instituted the “call-it-in-yourself”
rule. You will be penalized up to $500.00 for non-compliance with their “reinstated” rules. In addition, if you have an HSA or health
savings account, you must get a doctors’ prescription to buy OTC
drugs and withdraw their cost from the HSA. Oh, and the penalty
for violating HSA contribution and deduction rules beginning this year will result in a 20% penalty instead of the prior 10%
Call me old fashioned, but I’d rather have the good old days.
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