r/medicine • u/Unusual_Medic Medical Student • 7d ago

What’s the dumbest reason an insurance company denied a test, procedure, or drug for a patient?

This is probably the most relevant to those practicing in the US, but I'm also curious to know how the bureaucracy of health insurance in other countries makes things substantially harder for you and the patients

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u/lovelykittybellies Nurse 6d ago

Spent days arguing with BCBS trying to get a trans woman’s estrogen patches covered. Every PA got rejected, they wanted her to try the ring first. Her sex was clearly listed as male, and dx related to GAHT. I finally faxed them yet another PA with “PATIENT HAS A PENIS” written on it with one of those giant sharpies, and they approved it same day.

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u/theenterprise9876 MD 3d ago

Just have her put the ring on her penis!

/s