Confused and a little angry

I received the call from my insurance company last Thursday that I was approved and needed to contact my surgeon's office to make my next appt bc the approval expires on the 21st. I called to make the last appt for the ultrasound that same day (last Thursday) so I can also have a surgery date scheduled. I hate to say this but the receptionist was far from friendly and told me there was no way I was approved that fast and need to let them do their job (meaning when they are ready they will call me... found out today they misplaced the authorization fax). I called back today to see if I could not schedule the appt now bc they made it clear this appt would be a very long one and with children and college I need plenty of time to make sure there is someone here to get them from school and that I do not have class that day (my surgeon is an hour away from my home) and after being spoken to once again like I am a toddler the receptionist informed me that she will call be the beginning of next week for the ultrasound appointment and after that I get that appointment they will give me a surgery date... she then informed me that I will not meet the date of the 21st that was given as the expiration on the authorization by the insurance company. I ask what happens once I miss the 21st date and she informed me I have to go through the approval process all over again. Has this happened to anyone else and I wonder if there is a chance that when they submit for a new authorization date it could be denied? If anyone has any experiance with this I would really appreciate some info on how the experience went... Sorry for venting and rambling 

I am so sorry that happened to you. The receptionist shouldn't have spoken to you that way. I would let your surgeon know how she treated you because she's representing his or her's practice and she could actually push patients away. Best of luck to you! Hope you don't have to go back through the approval process again!

Thank you, I am defiantly going to let him know about this experience as well as a few other times she has done this. I am so confused about the expiration date and if I really have to do the entire process over again... and what if the next person to review it denies me... this has really stressed me. 

You are welcome! & I don't know if they'd deny you because it wouldn't be your fault that you have to go through the approval process again.  & they approved you once, right? I'm sure they would approve you again. Let's just think positive though and hope you don't have to go through it again.

That happened to me but my program's scheduler said that they would contact the insurance and make sure to get an extension.  They said that as long as they had a date and told them they could not get me in before that date that was stated it would be ok with the insurance.  They took care of it and I didn't have any problems about it.  Hope yours will work together. 

Thank you, I will directly to the insurance specialist after I get my date to see if this is a possible step they will take and maybe the receptionist was incorrect. I am going to do my very best to stay positive and try to not her negative attitude rub off lol 

My insurance company gave me a 90 day window for approval and then my surgeon took an extended vacation.  The approval expired one day before my surgery was scheduled.  The surgeon's office took care of getting the extension.  No problem.

I hope that is the case for me... They called today with the next appt date which was 4/8/14 and then that day I will get the surgery date 

You should double check with the insurance company on the authorization expiration.  I have not heard of such a limited approval approval period.  Many are good for 6 months and the shortest I have ever heard of is 60 days.  Insurance companies know quite well that it often takes a fair amount of time to get the pre-op testing done and get on the surgeon's schedule!

Lora

I spoke with the insurance specialist that confirmed it will expire on the 21st but he said he will handle everything so that is a huge relief