Interesting Conversation

Here is an interesting conversation I had with my health insurance company the other day.  Kari, you'll be happy that I'm trying to get an appointment scheduled for a dermatologist.  But, it's proving to be more difficult that I'd like it to be.  My dear husband checked online to see which Dr. is included in our plan, the closest Dr. he could find was in Grand Rapids, about a 3 1/2 hour drive away from our home.  So, I decided to call our insurance company to see if I could get in anywhere closer.  Here is an idea of our how our conversation went the other day:

Me:  Hi, I'm trying to find a dermatologist closer to my home.  My husband looked for a doctor online and the closest one he could find, in our plan, was 3 1/2 hours away.  

UHC:  Sure, I'd be glad to help.   

She then verified my address and asked again for my zipcode to do a search.

UHC:  It'll take just a minute for the computer to look up the information.

Me:  No problem.

It was naptime, so I actually had time to wait on hold for a couple of minutes.

UHC:  Okay, it looks like the location closest to you is only 24-30 minutes away, in Cody.  

Me:  Really?  Okay, I've never heard of a town close by here called Cody, though.

UHC:  Wyoming.

Now, there's a town just outside of Grand Rapids called Wyoming, and this is what I thought she meant.

Me:  Well, that's actually the location that's 3 1/2 hours away.  Is there anything closer? 

UHC:  The computer is showing me that it's less than 30 miles away from you, so that shouldn't be  a problem. 

Me:  Actually, it's over 3 hours away.

UHC:  It says here that Cody, Wyoming is 24-30 miles away from your location.  If you're choosing not to go there, then you'll have to call and request a Gap Extension to change doctors.

Me:  Wyoming?  The state of Wyoming?  You know I live in the state of Michigan, right?

UHC:  Yes, the computer says it's only 24-30 miles away from your location.

At this point, I though there was something wrong with me.  Was I missing something?  Did she really think Wyoming was just a half hour drive from my town in Northwestern Michigan???

I took the phone number to the office in Wyoming and called myself, asking if they were indeed in the state of Wyoming, which they were.

I promptly called back my insurance company and had an identical conversation with a different woman.  Only, after I told her that I was definitely in the state of Michigan and the state of Wyoming was not 24-30 miles away from my home, she figured out something was wrong with the computer.

I was instructed to call my primary care physician, have them call my healthcare company to request a Gap Extension to I don't have to drive to Wyoming (the state) to go to my dermatologist appointment.

sigh...