The appeal letter I wrote when coverage was denied
The thin envelope, the reason code, the woman at my prescriber's office who had done this hundreds of times, the one-page letter, and the 27-day timeline that followed.
The Quiet Part
The paperwork part
Insurance vocabulary, prior authorizations, pharmacy calls, and renewal reminders. Plans differ, and we say so.
How to talk to HR about a medication without telling them anything
Every benefits question worth asking about coverage, prior auth and appeals can be asked without naming a drug or a reason. Here is how I did it, email included.
When the pharmacy says it’s on backorder
A calm playbook for the backorder text: the specific question to ask, how to call other pharmacies, when to call the prescriber, the paper trail, and the nerves.
The folder that keeps GLP-1 paperwork from eating my evenings
One folder, paper or digital. What goes in it, the two-minute habit after every pharmacy call, and the coverage dispute it turned from four evenings into forty minutes.
Insurance renewal season, and what to check before January
Open enrollment with a GLP-1 in the picture: the formulary, the prior authorization clock, the copay card, what to ask HR, and the reminders I set.
What I write down before every appointment
My appointments are twelve minutes. One page, written the night before, makes them hold more: what changed, side effects in two lines, three questions, the medication list.
The pharmacy called and I didn’t understand a word
A plain-language glossary for the GLP-1 refill: backorder, formulary, step therapy, copay card, quantity limit. Plus the one question I now ask every time.
Prior authorization, translated
What a prior authorization actually is, who files it, why it takes days, the questions I ask the pharmacy and the office, and the folder in my kitchen drawer.
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