Status Quo Ante

As President Eisenhower once said, "Things are more like they are now than they ever have been."
Two weeks ago, the snow was almost completely gone, and today, after a record (and heart) breaking storm last week, the snow is almost completely gone.
Two months ago, we were getting ready to appeal Blue Cross's denial of Karen's oral meds, and today, after getting a letter denying our appeal we're preparing a final appeal to the OPM. Once that is denied, there is no one left to send letters of appeal to.

So, just like before, I'm still ranting about health care. Today on my route, a woman mentioned that her health care was breaking her budget, and apparently her liver, since her Blue Cross plan won't pay for the meds she needs. They'll pay for similar meds, that are having a toxic effect on her liver, but not for the slightly more expensive ones that don't have side effects. A doctor on my route is dealing with them at both ends. His insurance company won't pay for his medicine, because there is an ineffective otc alternative. At the same time, his patient can't get an MRI because her insurance company won't authorize it. This orthopedic doctor was working on her appeal. He had to convince an OB/GYN working for the insurance company that the patient needed an MRI of her spine. And not just an OB/GYN instead of an orthopedic doctor that might know what he was talking about, but an OB/GYN that couldn't make it in private practice and had to work for an insurance company.
It's too bad, in a way, that insurance companies are soulless bureaucracies, since as such, they don't even have to fear the eternal damnation they have earned.