frustration

We had our last appt with the neurosurgeon yesterday. It went well, he just answered questions & set things up with the blood bank. Unfortunately the surgery coordinator informed us that our insurance is refusing to bill us as in-network. I called to double check that there aren't any in-network options for surgeons because it would cost less to travel for the surgery than to pay out of network charges. It turns out there is not a single pediatric neurosurgeon in the network - anywhere. There is also no pediatric plastic surgeon, no pediatric craniofacial team of any kind. But they still will not pay. I don't get it. It's not like we have any other options. We're not just choosing to go out of network, there literally are no other options. We got the bill for the office visit with the plastic surgeon, I sat there staring at the bill thinking "it was only 30 minutes!" I can't even imagine how much the surgery is going to cost. We're going to appeal, of course, but the lady I talked to on the phone said that they have been appealed before by other people & have never budged on it. She did encourage me to go ahead & try though. So insurance companies are horrible & rotten. BUT we have been shown a tremendous amount of kindness by our doctors. Both the PS and the NS have offered to waive any surgery charges beyond what the insurance is willing to pay. I am so thankful for that. It still leaves us with hospital and anesthesia bills though, and those are the big ones. I'm so frustrated. We worked so hard to pay off all our debt too. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted. Such is life.