I hate bureaucracy.....

....especially the bureaucracy generated by the healthcare industry. It's like a bureaucracy factory.

Earlier this year, I signed up for health insurance coverage through my current employer. This coverage started on June 1. I saw my doctor for a prescription refill later that month.

Last month, I received a letter from my healthcare provider, asking for more information so they could make a determination on a pre-existing condition. So I sent them a copy of my insurance card from my previous provider (I was on my ex-wife's plan until 6/1/07, the first day of the month after our divorce was final, and the day my new benefits kicked in). Apparently that wasn't good enough. They're looking for more specific information.

To top it off, I received another "love note" from them yesterday, telling me that if I don't give this information to them in 15 days from the date of the letter, they could deny my coverage on the grounds of "pre-existing condition".

The letter was dated August 15. It was postmarked August 21. I received it yesterday (August 27). That does not give me sufficient time to respond.

These are the times I want to go after the Gordian knot of bureaucracy and red tape with a chainsaw.

But I know the more rational approach is to call them up and clarify exactly what they're asking for. (Oh, and they'll probably want my Social so they can find me in their system. Refer to previous rant.)

Now, where did I put my 27B/6 form?

[Updated 15:50 EDT] I called them up and they're looking for a "HIPAA Certificate" from my previous insurer. Why they can't say this in the letter I don't know. But I called the previous provider, explained my situation, and they'll send me the letter I'm looking for, which I should get in 15 days.

Slave is being decommissioned.....

Heard through the grapevine that a friend of a friend is looking for an older computer to use. I have one that I've sort of been using as a testbed. (Yes, the Gateway system I called "slave" (after Blake's 7), which really hasn't been used that much recently.) So the past few days have been spent uninstalling software, wiping the disks, installing Windows 98 SE, downloading and installing drivers, and doing lots of reboots.

It wouldn't be so bad if not for the quirk that I have to unplug and replug the mouse so it would actually boot up and not sit there.

When done, this Pentium II 400 MHz system will have two hard drives (4 Gb and 10 Gb) and 192 Mb of memory. And it will be going to a good home.

I may have another testbed system soon. As soon as they do inventory at work and mark a few of the machines as surplus, one of them is going home with me.

Also, I found a very good system information tool. Astra32 came up near the top of a Google search, and I tried it out. I recommend it.