Catch-22

File this one under the most ridiculous insurance policy to date. I got a call from my insurance broker yesterday to discuss my dental claims. Turns out, the dentist used "dental codes" to file the claims with Blue Cross. Silly people - don't they know that you need to use "medical codes" in order for the medical insurance to pay?

The broker asked me to have the dentist resubmit all the claims with the medical codes, and then he would be able to work on getting Blue Cross to pay the claim. Easy enough, right? Here's the catch: my dentist doesn't have the medical codes. Sounds simple enough, right? I asked the broker for the medical codes. Here's about how the conversation went:

me: My dentist doesn't have medical codes.

broker: Can they ask around and get them?

me: Um, can't you just give them to the dentist?

broker: Oh, I don't have the codes and Blue Cross won't give them to me.

me: Huh? Why's that?

broker: If I had the codes, then I would give them out and dentists would file under medical policies. Then Blue Cross would have to pay.


Ah, yes. Another one of the insurance companies methods for avoiding payouts. "Yeah, it's covered if you file the claim properly, but we're not going to tell you or anyone how to do that, sohaveanicedaybye!"