How can you win with the health insurance company?

As many of you know, kiddo #4 was an early walker. She was pulling herself up to stand before she could crawl and walking by the time she turned 9 months. Kiddo #4 thinks she is a big kid and is determined to do anything she can to "keep up" with her three older siblings. For the most part, this is not a bad thing and is actually quite adorable however, there are some problems that can develop in the physical growth/development of children who are early walkers.

When she was about 10 months old we noticed that Kiddo #4's right leg was looking a little funny and that she was not walking quite right anymore. By the time she was 12 months old and it was time for her yearly checkup her walking had worsened and her leg was more visibly bow-legged. Our pediatrician referred us to a pediatric orthopedist who quickly determined that kiddo #4 has what is called tibia vara and determined that she needs to wear a brace on her leg for awhile to correct the problem. Tibia vara is not really serious problem, it means that her tibia bone is growing crookedly because of the weight she put on her legs at such an early age. It is not uncommon although, it is not usually apparent until children are closer to the age of 2.

So, we saw a problem, we talked to the doctor about the problem, the doctor diagnosed the problem and prescribed a fix for said problem. That was the easy part, quick and easy.

Now, here we sit 8 or 9 weeks later and still no brace. Getting in with the place who makes the braces was not difficult. However, after waiting in the office for more than 3 hours we learned that the insurance company needed more information before approving the brace. After another week of waiting it was finally determined that the brace place needed to send in paperwork so, they did. Cathy, the very nice receptionist at the brace place sent in her paperwork on August 23. I finally called Cathy about 2 weeks later to find out the status only to learn that the process usually takes about 30 days. Meanwhile, kiddo #4's leg is getting worse. I called the insurance company on Cathy's advice and, of course they did not have the paperwork in yet and told me to call back in week so, I did. I called back every week. Finally, today I talked to the insurance company only to find out that they didn't actually receive the paperwork until September 24. My first question is, why would it take a month to get to them and in their system? The insurance representative kindly informed me that it would take 30 days from the date they received the letter to get the approval for the brace. When I kindly informed her that we absolutely needed it earlier than that as kiddo #4's leg is continuing to worsen she kindly informed me that they must follow the "appropriate steps" for approval because the brace is a device that will cost more than $500 and following those steps will take 30 business days. She says there is nothing they can do. This puts us into November.

Poor kiddo #4 continues to get worse. Every time I see her trip over herself or see her leg collapse under her because she stepped just wrong, I want to throttle somebody at the insurance company. My little girl is getting worse because the insurance company refuses to rush approval for her brace because it costs more than their magic number. She is also growing so, the measurements they took way back in August will no longer be good by the time the insurance comes through in November and they will have to take an additional 2 to 3 weeks to make her a new one. My hands are tied. Nothing I can say or do will make this a priority to them, they have enough clients that her little leg problem means nothing to them. I have to just sit back and wait. How does one do that? How could I possibly make them understand? This sucks.

Sorry, for my long rant. I am pretty irritated, frustrated, you name it, right now.