306
uhc_video
“ABC News with Charles Gibson on the 22nd of September 2008 had a segment about integrative treatment, and I remember getting off the couch, and I revved up my lap and I found a licensed acupuncturist. And I had to sit and think after I viewed my insurance policy medical coverage with UnitedHealthcare how I was going to make that all happen.
“And the next day, I called UnitedHealthcare. I told them what I wanted to do. I got Dr. Rayfield, who was my acupuncturist, on the telephone and we had a conference call. The gentleman at the UnitedHealthcare care coordination department grabbed all the information he needed from her, grabbed all the information he needed from me, and within less than 24 hours, I was approved for 24 acupuncture treatments.
“That was on a Monday or Tuesday, and on Thursday, I was having my first acupuncture treatment. I didn’t know that acupuncture would be covered for chemotherapy. I had to look that up online but when I saw the words in my insurance coverage – chemotherapy or acupuncture for chemotherapy, nausea, pain and fatigue – I was dancing with joy.
“We as patients know what’s in our auto insurance policy, for the most part. We have a sense of what coverage we bought in our home policy. But we really don’t know what our medical insurance covers until we need it.”
Storytellers
Debra Neizer's Story
UnitedHealthcare Integrated Complementary Medicine
After seeing a TV news segment about the value of acupuncture during chemotherapy, Debra Neizer was stymied about how to make that happen with her health insurance. Find out how she made it happen.
Please enter a valid email address
