Wow, I have to say that this clinic is quite a roller coaster (not a good one). I have been going to Dr. Shimer for about 2 years now and am now having to change doctors due to the incredibly unorganized and rude staff. Like most women, I am on birth control and outside of my normal annual check ups was the only real reason for having a gynecologist. I started to have serious side effects on the birth control I was on so Dr. Shimer switched me and we went through this four times. I found one that finally didn't make me sick and of course it was not covered by my insurance.
Obviously, I did everything I could to figure out how to get it covered because I just could not handle being made sick anymore. Basically I had to appeal it with the insurance company by writing a letter and have my doctor write a letter. Easy enough, right? Worth trying at any rate. I called and called and called Dr. Shimer's office leaving message after message with no return call. This goes on for two weeks. Finally a girl calls me back, I talk to her, tell her how concerned I am and she comforts me, promising to help appeal it with my insurance. She gives me her personal email address (very strange) to send her all the information and tells me to come pick up samples from the office. Needless to say I email her everything that same day and go to pick up my sample the following day. She never responded to receiving my email, so I leave her a hand written note to call me back to confirm she got my email and discuss next steps. I, of course, never get a call from her. Two months later I run out of samples and go back to the office to get more, as I was advised to do. I am assured at the office when I return for more samples that the girl is still working on it and to call and get more samples when I run out, that it was not a problem.
Two months go by again, I have not heard from anyone in the office in a total now of four months regarding my birth control issue. Again, I call and call and call leaving message after message. I even emailed the girl again in the hopes someone would respond to me. One week goes by and the following Monday I had had it. I called let them know I was coming to the office for more samples and to talk to someone and would love for someone to call me back before I made the trip. Well, they called me back. They tell me they sent the appeal to my insurance company and it had been declined. I was pissed (to say the least) how dare they do all of this and NEVER NOTIFY me of anything. I never got to write my letter/ do my part of the appeal. Oh, and by the way, she also tells me no longer have any samples of the birth control I need. Then the girl pulls my file and tries to prescribe me one of the FOUR birth controls that make me sick. Well, that really did me in to say the least.
Long story short, I talk to my health insurance provider and my gynecologist never submitted the letter of appeal and there were no records of even a phone call from them. I confronted the nurse who claimed that she would help me with this and she took absolutely no responsibility for any of it... talk about disheartening. She was also incredibly rude and could only manage to talk about how busy she was and how short staffed they were. Sorry honey, we all are busy. You had four months. The entire time I keep requesting that Dr. Shimer call me, but of course she never does. I just can not go to a doctor who employs individuals like this. read more
