Well, my doctor is too busy to check a few boxes and sign the form, so I was sent to Kaiser's member services. There I had to fill out 3 other forms that essentially give Kaiser the right to disclose information to Aetna. However, as I found out today, those forms only give Kaiser the right to disclose information relating to the Family Medical Leave Act and not for short-term disability. How did I find this out? Helpful Aetna sent me another snail mail letter to inform me that a request for another form to be filled out, sent directly to Kaiser, had not been answered.I called Kaiser to get the scoop and they said I'd better bring the new form request in because they may need more forms filled out. Sure enough, the new form was for short-term disability and I had to fill out some more forms to get Kaiser to fill in this new form. All in all Kaiser has about a tree's worth of paperwork from me in order to fill out 2 simple and common forms for Aetna that will allow them to process my leave which starts in 2 days.
Why does Aetna use snail mail to communicate with Kaiser and with me when there is only 14 days to get everything figured out before my leave starts (by their own rules)? Surely they work with Kaiser on a regular basis as there are many people at my company that use Kaiser for their health care. And surely they must know it's a bureaucratic mess to get any paperwork done with Kaiser. And why is it such a mess to get anything done with Kaiser? Because the health care system in America is completely f'd! Anyway, enough ranting about that - I'm sure it will all work out. I just hope I don't have to make another trip to Kaiser to fill in more paperwork. Lord knows I've been to Kaiser enough over the past 8 months!
On another, happier topic, I'm trying to find a lamp for the nursery to go on the end of the dresser (in between the 2 cow pictures on the wall, to light up the changing table area). I've found a few contenders.
This coordinates with the flowers and butterflies in the cow pics...
And this goes with the sheep theme...
And just as a reminder, this is the main bedding style that will be in the nursery...
So, which one do you think would go best?
Yeesh! I was exhausted just reading that! I didn't sign up for short term disability, but I actually had no problem with Kaiser and state disability ( I assume you're signing up for that too, right?). Picked up the letter from the doc, went to member services, and they sent everything out for me. But who knows how it goes with insurance to insurance?
ReplyDeleteAny news from your doc visit? Baby Fraser still snug and happy?
I like the butterfly one personally, but both are cute!
Yikes! So much for all those commercials I see from Kaiser praising their state of the art electronic systems that help them be ultra-efficient.
ReplyDeleteAgree on the butterfly, then again, I'm a guy and really have no idea.
I have short term disability insurance through Intel and so couldn't/didn't need to apply for the state disability. I'm sure if I didn't have to deal with Aetna and could just work with Kaiser, it would be easier. Too many cooks in the kitchen!
ReplyDeleteThe doc says baby Fraser is heads down and ready to go, although not yet engaged and still pretty far "up there". Her heartbeat is still strong and kick counts have been taking 5-10 minutes, so all seems to be well with her!
Wow, what a mess. Sorry you had to go through all of that! I like the sheep lampshade :) Glad to hear that everything is well with Baby Fraser!
ReplyDeleteI think my experience with Kaiser and maternity leave is going to be like Steph's. I have two forms to fill out and Kaiser is taking care of them for me- thank goodness! I can't believe how many hoops they made you go through! What a pain! Just remember, you only have two more days of work left!
ReplyDeleteI love the butterfly one! The colors are perfect and it's super cutie!
Good to hear Baby girl is doing great!
Yikes--what a hassle! I hope you are almost done with all the paperwork so that you can relax and get ready for your little girl!
ReplyDeleteI'm in the definite minority here, but I actually like the sheep one. There's something about fluffy animals that just makes me smile!