I called priceline to inquire about changing my flight and having it covered by the insurance. They referred me to the insurance company but also to their web page which had some info about the coverage, which included phrases like "pre-existing conditions are no problem" and "coverage provided for illness to yourself or your immediate family members". Looked good so far. That is, until I met Melanie. Melanie promptly informed me that since Marie's arm was broken before I bought the insurance, the claim may not be covered. What about the pre-existing condition statement? "Oh, that. Well this is a different kind of pre-existing condition. I can't tell you for sure but it might not be covered. You need to book your replacement travel with the airline where the tickets were purchased and then file a claim and we'll let you know."
Hmm. Doesn't sound good. I call the airline. "Oh, sorry. There's nothing we can do to help you. You bought these tickets through priceline so you need to rebook there. We're really sorry you sat on hold for 45 minutes, but please keep us in mind for your future travel requirements! We'd love to take you for a ride!"
OK, back to Priceline. "What, this has to do with insurance? Oh, let me transfer you to our "special" agent. I get Ana, who is very nice. We are disconnected and she calls me back! Wow. I am feeling a little better. "So," she says, in that tone doctors use on TV before they tell their patients they have terminal cancer. "Here's the thing. I know you paid $199 for your ticket from BOS to SFO, but it really only cost $139. The rest of the money was for taxes and fees which are not covered by the insurance. To get you a new ticket home on Thursday will cost $467. The airline will also charge a $100 change fee, and we charge a $30 change fee. So you are looking at a cost of about $600. Now, your original ticket only cost $139, and the insurance only provides coverage up to the cost of the original ticket, so you will need to pay an additional $460 to change your ticket. Would you like to proceed?"
What? But on Virgin America's website, the tickets on Thursday night show that they only cost $199! Why would you, a price discounter, charge me $467 for the same ticket?
"Well, those are special fares, only good for internet purchases directly from VA's website. $467 is the best we can do. Would you like to purchase the new ticket? Or, you can save money by just buying the $200 ticket yourself and forgetting about the claim."
Note to self: don't ever buy trip insurance again. Also, don't ever buy a ticket from anyone but the airline directly. I already knew this, but I was in such a hurry to get this trip booked and everything was such a mess that I just went with what was easiest at the time. C'est la vie.
As it turns out, this was just a warm up for the real insurance nightmare. On the day of Marie's surgery to repair her arm, as they were wheeling her out of pre-op to the OR, I looked at the forms she'd signed and noticed that her school doctor had authorized the surgery, but she was listed as the approving doctor for Kaiser. I knew Kaiser knew nothing about this surgery and that the doctor who approved was part of Marie's Blue Cross student insurance plan. I asked the nurses if this was an issue because I wanted to ensure we had coverage for the surgery. They quickly talked to hospital business office who said we had better get Kaiser or Blue Cross on the phone to get an approval. We didn't have Marie's Blue Cross number with us so we tried Kaiser, as the surgeon, anesthesiologist, and nurses stood by. At one point the surgeon grabbed the phone and started yelling at the Kaiser rep, saying this was an emergency and they needed to approve it so we could get her into the OR before her meds wore off. In the end, no approval was granted but the doctors took her away, crying. I spent the next two hours in the business office of the hospital trying to get things cleared up. As I was leaving, the hospital told me Blue Cross would be providing coverage based upon the fact that her primary care doctor with Blue Cross' routine care medical plan had provided approval. Blue Cross was non-committal however. I think they are keeping the door open to subit the claim back to Kaiser. And you thought the Superbowl was going to be a good fight...
Now we are back at the hotel while Marie recuperates, and our room is full of narcotics - Oxycontin, Vicodin, and Advil. And Marie is surprisingly hungry (maybe this is how crack addicts feel?) - she's eaten cereal and milk, bananas, applesauce, crackers, udon soup, chicken broth with more crackers soaked in it, scrambled eggs, a pastry from the breakfast buffet, a cereal bar, lemonade, and some chocolate mochi. And the best thing of all, a new form of gourmet cuisine on the go, the SunBeam Quesadilla - all melty and grilled to perfection right in our own room (see picture below). Ingredients courtesy of Trader Joe's and Whole Paycheck, both of which are practically adjacent to our hotel.
Using the hotel room appliances is not really such a bad idea. We heated up the chicken broth by running it through the coffee maker, where the water is supposed to go. It tasted fine, no coffee after taste or anything. I ran a couple of pots of water through afterward to clean up - all seemed OK, so I decided to be more adventurous and I tried warming a tortilla on the coffee machine warmer, but it was too small. Then I got the idea for the quesadillas using the iron, and now there's no limit to what I can make. Anything George Foreman can do, I can do better with my sleek white SunBeam. And the misting attachment is great for sprucing up the salad. Ahh. the Good Life. Bon Apetite!
