Complaint Review: CareFirst Blue Choice

On Thursday August 15, 2002, my husband went to the emergency room at Calvert Memorial Hospital. He suffers from COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). The hot weather tampered with his condition and he was having trouble breathing, chest pains, and dizziness from a lack of oxygen in his blood. The emergency room doctors did chest x-rays and a blood oxygen level test and determined that he should be admitted. Friday morning around 10am he finally is moved to a room. Later in the afternoon his family doctor visits him and adds a few medications to help his condition.

On Saturday, the doctor comes in to visit and says that the insurance company doesn't want him in the hospital and they are making it difficult for the doctor to justify his stay. The doctor is willing to fight the insurance company and appeal.

On Monday, August 19, 2002 my husband is released from the hospital utimately because the insurance company is refusing to pay. The doctor said he had no choice but to let him go home, and that the insurance company said they would be responsible in the event something tragic happens (like death).

On Saturday late in the evening, August 22, 2002, my husband was struggling to catch his breath and was very restless. I took him again to the emergency room at Calvert Memorial Hospital, where a different ER doctor admitted him. My husband has been administered massive doses of interveneous steroids, up to 600mg of Salumedrol in one dose and intervenous antibiotics, which has blown out a vien in his arm at least once a day if not more.

Again, my husband's doctor comes to see him and says I'm not sure how long I can keep you in here. After three days in the hospital, the insurance company complained and moved him to a transitional care unit.

On Wednesday, August 26, 2002, the insurance company said they would not pay for any additional care and sent him home.

On Friday, August 27, 2002, my husbands feet were swollen six times their normal size. He in fact was swollen all over. Needless to say, he was diagnosed on Tuesday, September 3, 2002 with congestive heart failure at the doctors office and sent home to recover.

Some of my husbands symptoms from this illness are distention in the small and large intestines, excessive fluid on the lungs and around the heart, lethargy, and muscle spasms (from the potassium levels in his body being off), and extreme difficulty breathing. Moreover, my husband had rhuematic fever when he was a child and has a heart murmer. All of these things combined, can lead to failure of the mitral valve resulting in death.

Don't you think, that my husband should be in the hospital, where he can be constantly monitored? I work and consequently have a two hour commute to and two hour commute from work everyday. I can not be at home to take care of my husband. Who is going to help him out of bed, help him prepare meals, and take a shower when I am not there.

Who will be monitoring his vital signs to make sure that he doesn't dip into a critically lethal state. In addition, to this non-sense I pay nearly $400.00 a month for insurance and they are refusing my husband medical care.

If you or anyone you know, knows someone who has the guts to take on the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Monopoly in the Washington, DC area, let me know. I am ready to fight it out legally. Where is Johnny Cockran when you need him. Johnny if your out there, shoot me an e-mail at XXx In the meantime, please pray for my husband.

Totally frustrated and distressed. ACRS

Chari
Washington, District of Columbia

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Read below why a phone number or link was removed from this Report

*EDitor's Comment

The reason why we have removed links, e-mail address or phone numbers from this report is because people have, in the past, attempted the following, ...all too often.

Posting LINKS

Many times links to unknown web sites will cause your pc to freeze up and /or cause you to get a computer virus, virtually rendering your computer useless. Most of the time, this is the work of a Company or an Individual who has been reported.
Many Government links are no better than the BBB and are just a waste of time, giving you false hope. Many government sites (like the BBB) just collect all information from you, the consumer, but never make that information available, so consumers will NOT be educated as to what exactly they should be looking out for. On the other hand, many government agencies have and do come to the Rip-off Report for information. We have been assisting many government agencies for some time now, including the FBI and Attorney General offices from around the country..

Now that all these Rip-off Reports are out in the open for everyone to see, in a way, this embarrasses these agencies into doing something when they see so many reports on a Company or Individual, because they are now out in the open for all to see. Unfortunately, many (not all) Attorney General Office's and government agencies will not move against a rip-off unless there is going to be some sort of publicity on the rip-off. By reporting your experience on the Rip-off Report, is the next best thing to getting your story on TV or in a newspaper. Most national TV networks and many local TV stations from all around the country come to the Rip-off Report for information they will not get from the BBB, Attorney General office's or any other government agency. Rip-off Report has instigated many local and national stories, resulting in help for victims, in one way or another. Most government agencies will never even bother with rip-offs unless it involves $50,000 or more. Now that the government is cutting back even more dollars for these types of programs, this number will even get higher and we can expect even less to get done, by even less people to work on all these rip-offs.

LAWYERS :

We have also struggled with the following for a long time..
The reason why we delete phone numbers, ..all too often unscrupulous lawyers or individuals posing as lawyers are collecting victims information to only further victimize them. Many times, well-meaning consumers think they are going to collect names and get them to a lawyer who will do something. In every case we have allowed a consumer victim to do this, nothing has ever came of it. Consumers were under the impression that something will be done to get them help. In every case this did nothing but lead the consumer on, further victimizing them, and some consumers were mad at us. We feel it is our responsibility to check the legitimacy of the lawyer before advertising their service on the Rip-off Report.

We will also not allow lawyers to use this web site for free when they will end up taking a large amount of fees, leaving the victim with very little. There are many competent lawyers out there that know how to get the unscrupulous Companies or Individuals who ripped you off, to pay their fees. Those lawyers capable of this can post their numbers after checking with us here at the Rip-off Report.

POSTING YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS:

For similar reasons as mentioned above, we will not allow individuals to post e-mail addresses, so they can be contacted for more info they claim they cannot post. If that person can contact YOU and get the information, so will everyone else be contacting you anyway, and, if it's good enough for them to receive it by contacting you, then you should be able to post that information for everyone to see and know about. And, many times, in an attempt to get your contact information, consumers will leave an email address; this is just a ploy to sell you a product or some other service. Most likely, you will end up on other junk mail lists. ..if they have something to sell, they should place an advertisement showing support to Rip-off Report.com so we can further help consumers.

ADDITIONAL NOTE ...about our advertisers:

As an extra added precaution to our readers, even all our PAID advertisements are checked out to the best of our ability before allowing them to be placed on the Rip-off Report. WE have turned down many advertisers to date. Advertisers on the Rip-off Report know, they are not immune from a Rip-off Report being filed on them. How many times do you see Rip-off companies advertising on TV and in publications when you know there are so many complaints about them!

We welcome your feedback on this subject.
Click on the REBUTTAL BOX below and submit a Consumer Comment so everyone can see.

ED Magedson
EDitor@RipoffReport.com
badbusinessbureau.com
www.ripoffreport.com