Gimme The Run Around

(this post is just a random rant about dealing with the Army)

If there is one thing I have come to accept urg... expect with the Army, its that you're going to be put through the wringer every once in a while. You are going to be put on a while goose chase for something trivial and it will frustrate the living daylight out of you

Take when I had Carter for example. They discharge you from the hospital saying that the next thing is his 2 week appointment. Well, in order to make an appointment, you have to be entered into the DEERSystem (Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System) since thats what puts you in the "system" and prove that you qualify for military health benefits. In order to be entered in DEERS you have to have a birth certificate. To get a birth certificate the hospital submits its records (since its federal property) to DC and then DC sends the info to the closest county's vital records office. I was told to expect that to take 7-10 business days. A week and a half after Carter was born, we drove to the courthouse, picked up his birth certificate and went to wait in line for 2 hours to get into DEERS. Got in DEERS, called the clinic to make the appointment and the earliest they have an opening is in 2 and a half weeks. That'd be 4 weeks. You raise hell, you talk to 5 different people and some how get squeezed in. This happens to every.single.born at the base hospital... (and they average 275 a month)

So today we got a letter saying that in order to deal with over crowded base clinic they are opening Community Based Medical Homes... GREAT IDEA, basically neighborhood clinics that are satellite campuses of the on-base clinics (they are starting by opening up 15 across the country, Fort Bragg area gets 3 and Fort Hood gets 3... Hood girls you KNOW that is long overdue) The letter says that they are open for voluntary enrollment but each of the three has assigned zip codes that qualify. My zipcode is assigned to the Hope Mills clinic opening up right down the street so I call to switch... beats the heck out of driving 25 minutes to base. So I call up TRICARE, the health insurance company, to the number listed in the letter. After finally get to a human, he types in the info to find my clinic. He was in PA and didn't really sound like he knew about this new program. He says based on the street address I gave him that the clinic doesn't exist, I gave him the address listed in the letter... nothing. So he connects me to the enrollment people. Another 15 minute hold. A woman asks for all my info, she has atleast heard of the program. (is anyone still following?) She asks which clinic I'm interested in and I say Hope Mills. She tells me I'm not qualified to go there. I told her that based on the letter I am. She puts me on hold to talk to her boss... comes back and asks me if they could see the letter. so tomorrow, I have to fax them the letter that says my zipcode is assigned to that clinic because according to their memo my zipcode doesn't apply. Heres the real kicker... my zipcode is the same as the clinic's!