Walkers + insurance co. = comedy!

We went shopping today for a rollator-transport wheelchair combo. (Actually had my wife "test drive" one, pushing me in the wheelchair. A first, probably not the last, but I think we both weathered the experience, and what it portends, reasonably well.)

The folks at the store were absolutely wonderful. We had so much fun talking to them! They were so nice!

And oh, the stories they told about working with insurance companies! Howls of derisive laughter!

For example, this combination device that I'm going to obtain, a "rollator" that can turn into a wheelchair that someone can push... well, it seems, the insurance companies usually won't pay for those.

No charge code for them, you see. Takes many years for the insurance companies to figure out what number to assign to a device, and these things have been out for what, only like four years now? Not nearly long enough for the insurance companies to figure out whether they're any good and worth paying for, much less how to classify them in their Sacred Charge Code systems. So, this one device that replaces two pieces of equipment, that is fantastically convenient both for me and for someone assisting me, that is light enough for one of my high-school students to fold up and tuck into the back seat of a car, that's easy to push and comfortable to sit in and will make a huge difference to my independence and happiness... they probably won't reimburse me for it because they can't figure out what number to file it under.

And it's insurance systems like this that our lawmakers are fighting to maintain, instead of permitting us to suffer under the evils of a single-payer system.

Some jokes write themselves... but even then, they aren't really the right kind of funny.