Aetna "Loses" the Appeal Application I called Aetna and asked for the address where appeals should be mailed. I then packaged letters from doctors and therapists. Enclosures included the medical records indicating the drop in Creatine Kinase levels after each round of HBOT, Miranda's medical records from her geneticist at Yale and a pediatric neurologist in Manhattan. Letters of witness and reaction to Miranda's HBOT response from her primary phyiscal therapist, her occupational therapist, and the staff of Charlotte Metro Hyperbarics and a DVD VIDEO of Miranda before, during and after HBOT treatments. This was a quality package with an articulate appeal, a summary of enclosures and substantial amounts of evidence including the video. Each exhibit was clearly marked with the relevant passages highlighted. I sent this package registered mail, return receipt to the appeals address indicated to me by Aetna. Four days later I tracked the package on line. It had been delivered. Two days later I received the signed return receipt in the mail as the ultimate proof of acceptance. A month later, we'd received no response and no record of a pending appeal on our member web site. My wife called to inquire, but I think "R.J." said it best on our answering machine:

Aetna "Loses" the Appeal Application

I called Aetna and asked for the address where appeals should be mailed.

I then packaged letters from doctors and therapists. Enclosures included the medical records indicating the drop in Creatine Kinase levels after each round of HBOT, Miranda's medical records from her geneticist at Yale and a pediatric neurologist in Manhattan. Letters of witness and reaction to Miranda's HBOT response from her primary phyiscal therapist, her occupational therapist, and the staff of Charlotte Metro Hyperbarics and a DVD VIDEO of Miranda before, during and after HBOT treatments.

This was a quality package with an articulate appeal, a summary of enclosures and substantial amounts of evidence including the video. Each exhibit was clearly marked with the relevant passages highlighted.

I sent this package registered mail, return receipt to the appeals address indicated to me by Aetna.

Four days later I tracked the package on line. It had been delivered.

Two days later I received the signed return receipt in the mail as the ultimate proof of acceptance.

A month later, we'd received no response and no record of a pending appeal on our member web site. My wife called to inquire, but I think "R.J." said it best on our answering machine:

That isn't edited -- the message cuts off just as he's about to provide an alternative solution. "Or, you know, fax it in at --" MESSAGE CUTS OFF, DOESN'T CALL BACK.

Something else R.J. said stood out at me as well. "We do not have your appeal."

Actually, R.J., you do.