Physical Therapy Drama

The doctor wrote me a prescription on Tuesday. I called Wednesday to the place down the road where I intended to go for physical therapy. Guess what? They no longer have an out patient physical therapy department. Awesome. The next closest hospital didn't either and they thought the first place I called still did. These must have been recent department cuts. I am hopping and praying I don't have to go all the way to the other side of town (with minimal parking) three times a week.

The 3rd closest hospital still had an out patient PT department at least, but I couldn't get anyone on the phone. I know the place on the other side of town that I went to when we lived closer is booked solid for at least 3wks at the moment. Three weeks! I have a deadline, here folks! I'm hoping the smaller closer hospital has a sooner appointment.

My current PT warns against going anywhere that's not a hospital since their cap for insurance coverage is higher. I really hate the way insurance doles out rules and limits for everyone based on no medical knowledge at all. I have a life long neuro-muscular disorder, so how does billing my therapy as a certain number of visits "per incident" make sense? It doesn't.

I was so excited to be discharged from home care and now I'm going to be stuck in limbo or dragging myself across town three times a week. During my last round of therapy I remember parking the car and hiking the two blocks to the door and being worn out when I got there. At least I'm approved for one more week of home visits so I have a little bit of time to sort it out.

My last two surgeries I was under a more minimal insurance and nobody cared whether I got the amount of therapy my doctor prescribed or not. When the insurance ran out I was done. Six visits after the back surgery, six visits after the hip surgery. Instead of 3 times a week for 6-8wks per surgery like I was supposed to.

Grrrrr!