Peace Corps has a reputation of being, well… disorganized. I’m
currently frolicking through the world of insurance battles. Supposedly any
injuries obtained overseas are supposed to be covered by Peace Corps when you return. I even have a niffy form that
says basically says Peace Corps must cover any thing relating to my ankle
injury. It appears I was wrong to trust this form. I’m currently fighting with
insurance to cover my doctors’ visits and X-rays,
The actual wording on the form is: “Covers up to 4 visits with
surgeon including X-rays, must be used within 6 months of COS”
I have heard every excuse from “It doesn’t cover X-rays!”, “You
need to file XYZ claim!”, “You need a new form for every visit”. In a word: difficult. Everyone I speak to in Peace Corps says that’s crazy the form should
cover it, but for some reason the actual people that give the money are tightening
the purse strings screaming “No, no, no! You can’t have its ours!”. I sort of
imagine them like this:
I’m getting the feeling this is going to be an ongoing
process, considering I’m still getting E-mails from South Africa about money
not being paid. We’ll see how it goes with physical therapy, and my COS doctor’s
appointment. I’m avoiding all the medical processes I’m supposed to get done because I
really don’t want to do battle with insurance every week.
I take bitter sweet comfort in the fact that I’m not alone in
this. There is an whole web group originally named “Abandoned by Peace Corps”
that deals exclusively with post medical evacuation difficulties.
