A local woman battling brain cancer says she’s shocked to learn her insurance company won’t pay for the expensive wig she bought.
Amy Williams of Northside says its been a trying time for her family and she says a lot of things she might normally have done, were not done when it came to getting a wig.
“I’ve lost my hair, mostly due to the radiation but we think the chemotherapy probably helped it along,” says Williams.
During that time, she says her doctor suggested getting a wig at a particular store. “Their understanding, at least when it was told to me, was that they would refer their patients to them and that it was supposed to be a wonderful experience, which it was. It was very nice to go and they closed the shop down and everything but what was told to me was they take care of all the insurance, they’re very used to filing for us. They do very, very well,” says Williams.
But her insurance company rejected coverage for the $1,600 wig. “Called my insurance company and my insurance said if they had pre-authorized we could have put it through your gap side of it but that was not done,” says Williams.
However nice the wig was, the insurance company said that store was just not in its network of providers. So now Williams is stuck with a bill she never expected to have to pay. Williams says in the three months she’s had the wig she’s only worn it about 10 times because of all the aggravation its caused her. “Maybe I should have called my insurance company and said you know hey is this covered but I had never dealt with wigs before. I was referred there by my radiation oncologist. They told me it would be covered,” says Williams.
Incidentally, I called the store and was told while a lot of their wigs are in fact covered by insurance, every policy is different so they can’t guarantee anything. Williams says the store told her they do take her type of insurance and it’s often covered. But store officials say more and more insurance companies are now dropping such coverage.
So, you need to call ahead to your insurance company and check to see if your benefits will cover a wig. If so, see if it will only be covered if it is purchased at a particular store.
