When corporations ARE so bad

I thought I had this figured out.

Of all the bajillion things to worry about with our upcoming two-year move to Rome, I was most worried - at first - about diabetes. How I would take care of myself. How I would get all of the meds and supplies that I need. How I would get lab work done. And on and on and on.

But after some research - online, talking with my doctor, talking with friends who live or have lived in Rome, and finally talking to someone with Type 1 currently living in Rome - I started to feel better about things. I even talked to a pharmacist in Rome when I visited the city in May.

I began hoarding as many supplies as possible. A friend who works for Johnson and Johnson started buying extra test strips for me. My endo found me a doctor over there. My father-in-law ( pharmacist) offered to fill some prescriptions for me so I could take the majority of my meds with me.

Everything was coming together, so I stopped worrying as much. I felt that at least I had the diabetes portion of my to-do list managed. Diabetes was not going to be a hindrance.

Until it was.

One of the many, many things that one must do when applying for a visa to one of the Schengen Area nations is to provide either proof of adequate international health insurance or a sworn affidavit promising to acquire it once you arrive in that country. When I got my visa three years ago for my four-month residency in Venice, I signed the affidavit. I had adequate coverage on the insurance that I got through school, but signing the affidavit moved things along more quickly.

But my insurance situation is different now. I have EXCELLENT insurance right now. Insurance that is almost completely paid for by the fellowship I have at school. I pay $25 a month to have the best insurance possible, and it is absolutely worth it.

My fellowship and my insurance coverage are done at the end of August.

So Nick and I went over lots of possible insurance scenarios - keeping my really amazing insurance and adding Nick to the policy (he has insurance through his job), potentially buying into the Italian health care system when we get there, etc - and finally settled on getting an international policy.

Over the last several weeks, I've researched at least ten different companies. I've talked to four different representatives at four different companies. I've explained to each of them that I have Type 1 Diabetes. As I detailed in this post, the majority of them won't cover a pre-existing condition for the first 12 months. But I found one that would. It was also affordable (if $170/month can really be called affordable).

I finally submitted an application on Thursday of last week. I went through the many page web application, looking up the contact information of former doctors. Trying to remember exactly what kind of medication I took when I had chronic tension headaches my freshman year of college. It was not fun getting that task done. But I knew it had to happen. I knew that it was one of the last things to do before we could apply for our visas.

And then when we got home yesterday from our weekend of camping (yay, fun!), I had an email that had been sent to me on Friday afternoon rejecting our application. My completely healthy husband and I did not meet their underwriting requirements because of our "medical history."

This naturally upset me. I spent all of that time on the phone with one of their reps talking about getting this coverage. I spent all of that time filling out the application, and they rejected us from the outset. I can only assume that this is because of my diabetes. Also disclosed on the application were my headaches (which I haven't had in 9 years), a UTI I had 6 years ago, and the fact that Nick fainted once.

Apparently they didn't feel the need to contact my doctors to find out about my health history. Otherwise they would have found out that my highest A1c since diagnosis has been 6.3. That my blood pressure and cholesterol are completely normal. That I have no issues of neuropathy or retinopathy. That essentially I am perfectly healthy, except for my lazy pancreas.

And now I am at a loss for what to do. I can apply to some other companies. I can appeal this company's decision, but only in writing. I can pay a ridiculous price to keep my good insurance. I can sign this affidavit and figure it out later.

But none of these options are appealing. Why would any company cover me?

I suppose we'll have to go with one of those providers who just won't cover anything diabetes related. And that makes me nervous. And mad that that might be my only option.

My apologies for this tome of a post, but it's an excellent example of how NOTHING is easy or straightforward when you're trying to temporarily relocate to a foreign country. Having a chronic illness just makes that more complicated. Hopefully I'll get this figured out soon. I don't really have a choice, since it's only 36 days until we leave.

For now, my mantra: Everything will be ok. We will get this figured out.