DW is picking up a copy of my file from their office on her way home. They charge a $50 fee for this, which had better be waived but I'm not holding my breath.

DW is picking up a copy of my file from their office on her way home. They charge a $50 fee for this

I'd ask if that was legal, but nothing about the American health care system's treatment of pregnant women surprises me anymore.

(((((GC))))). I'm glad your DW was able to sort some of this out for you. That is so incredibly fucked up, and you have every right to be upset.

I am at the dentist with TCG hoping that this won't mean much missed work and/or a ton of money. My migraine has mostly passed.

According to [link] in CA a doctor's office may charge up to 25¢ per page plus a "reasonable clerical fee". That half a c-note may or may not qualify as reasonable depending on how thick the file actually is. I'll leave it to someone who has more of a clue about the wages of front office staff in California to guess at that. GC, I'm sorry this is such a trying thing for you.

Shir, all the peace and health ~ma I can give for your sister and your dog.

How's my Monday? Well, having worked the overnight shift to cover for someone who quit, I now have the rest of the day to sleep and generally lolligag.

Sorry that your OB hired Tino, but I'm glad that DW is sorting it out. I hope it goes smoothly from here.

I'll leave it to someone who has more of a clue about the wages of front office staff in California to guess at that. Front desk staffers get paid crap to begin with and a file would have to be nearly a foot thick and full of tricky images to be worth $50 of their time, and I can practically guarantee they won't see a penny of that fee anyhow.

As someone with such a clue, I call gigantic fucking bullshit on half a C-note. (And, FWIW, to my knowledge nobody in my division charges even a minimal per-page fee; dunno about the rest of the hospital, but our general policy is that the records are about the patient so s/he has a right to them, any time, on demand, no questions asked and no charge.)

In summary: I am SO GLAD you're out of there and about to start with someone whom the pediatrician you love also loves, and I also want to crush all their heads for stressing you out with the pregnancy clock ticking down. The last few weeks turn you into a 24/7 stressball under the best of circumstances; I can't believe they're acting like that and not apologizing. I'm crushing all their heads until they pop like smelly pimples.

I ran into the charge for records once, and I immediately called the insurance company. I explained the situation, the insurance rep on the other side paused, then said, "That charge only applies to out of network patients. This is the fourth time they've done this. Don't worry about anything, ma'am, I'll call them as soon as you and I are done."

I spent the rest of the day beaming with righteous vindication as I imagined the insurance rep going toe-to-toe with scamming doctor's office.

GC, I'm sorry to hear about your day.

A quick update: sister's now sleep, and I'm in charge of keeping an eye on my traumatized dog. Both are fine, just need some rest and recovery. I need sleep, but I need to comfort the dog and keep an eye on him until he'll fall asleep. I let sleep take care of my sister, instead.

And I think it's the last time we're letting her make decision when she's been awake for 36 hours, after a week on which she slept only 20 hours, scattered. My poor things. My poor sleep. Thank God I can wake up around 7 tomorrow.

singing lullabyes for Shir's sister and the dog.

And it continues. I called my insurance co. to ensure that new OB is in network and they tell me, no, she is not. OB's office insists they are. Sorry, not taking any chances after what I just got out of. So had to call my high-risk OB for references and now have an appt. with yet another OB on Thursday morning. I am so stressed out. This is so ridiculous. Worst. Monday. Ever.