false 5984420 0979143500 9780979143502 2 3 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1246249730m/5984420.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5984420.Fight_Your_Health_Insurer_and_Win_Secrets_of_the_Insurance_Warrior 2741966 Laurie Todd 2 3 4 10 false Mon Aug 24 08:45:19 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 03 18:13:49 -0700 2009
Fight Your Health Insurer and Win is the story of how Todd appealed that decision and succeeded in getting her HMO to pay for her surgery. Todd did not have a legal background when she began her odyssey, but by paying close attention to the details and doing her own legwork, she was able to prove to her HMO that there were no in-network physicians competent to perform her surgery and that this supposedly experimental treatment was considered the "standard of care" by another insurance company.

Since succeeding in her own appeal, Todd has written successful appeals for patients all over the country. This book is designed to be a how-to guide for others seeking to appeal their own denial of care. Towards that end, it explains the inner workings of insurance companies and their networks, what specific insurance terminology means and how to use it to your advantage, and what sort of evidence you need collect to counter the most common denial arguments. She includes the outline of her appeal and the text of numerous letters she wrote in the process. In addition, there is advice on things like how to establish precedent by finding others who have gotten your insurance company to pay for the treatment they are attempting to deny you and how to navigate the Social Security disability process.

The hard details of how to successfully appeal a denial of care are interwoven with elements of Todd's personal story. Todd also shares no-nonsense wisdom about how to cope with what she calls Bad Medical Trouble, particularly when the people around you have no concept of what you are going through. There is a strong emotional tone underlying her writing, a passion infused by the unconscionable unfairness of a corporation placing profit over the lives of its customers. But Todd is no cheerleader; she is a hard-core pragmatist who understands from personal experience that there are no guarantees in this life. That's no reason to go down without a fight, however, and for those who want to know they have done everything they possibly can to give themselves the best chance of survival, hers is an exceedingly useful book.
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