Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Where the Truth Lies is a fine mystery story
Just finished watching the film "Where the Truth Lies," and found it a fascinating retro-style murder mystery, complete with great costumes, wonderful sets and hairstyles that conjure 1950s Camel cigarette commercials and a zeitgeist evocative of Mickey Spillane.
Not that this has anything to do with anything. It's just that I've had several hellish days in a row now, mainly because I"m worried, terribly worried about my dear lady friend D, who, at the moment, is threatened by Cigna, the insurance company. You see, since the administration passed the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan D, anyone receiving Medicare assistance has been forced out of their private insurance plan – in D's case it was Blue Cross Blue Shield – and onto the Medicare Plan D, which, of course, is provided by select insurers. Well, Blue Cross dropped D and D's mom somehow wound up signing up for the Medicare plan with Cigna. And Cigna has lied to her about cap limits on the amount of medication they'll pay for! As a result, Cigna has cut D's medication by 5/6th, putting her at grave risk! We've (her mother, primarily, but her physician, her pharmacist and other family members) have filed two appeals requesting an exemption from Cigna's policy as it relates to the drug D takes, but Cigna has refused those appeals, seemingly out of hand without so much as looking at the information provided.
Now we're at the third appeal phase, wherein supposedly an objective, non-company panel reviews the appeal and delivers a final decision. It's crazy because, in effect, Cigna is supplanting D's physician and prescribing her meds, which I find odd since the company is not licensed to practice medicine. But, apparently, insurance companies in Texas have all the laws on their side, the consumer be damned!
So, I watched this flick and found myself drifting back in my memories to those days in the late 1950s, early 1960s when the Rat Pack ruled in Las Vegas and Elvis was making those schlocky movies and performing even schlockier songs and bowling was the thing to do with the family on weekends. A more innocent time (on the surface, as it were).
Oh well. I've got to get it together and dress for work, so I'll sign off for now.
Hope things in your world are going smoothly and happily.