Health Insurance Codes
A doctor friend, it was, who graciously shared the secret
Explaining how to unlock a small measure of respect
Strategic, the secret codes the layman must decipher
To advance within the confines of this healthcare system
Apparently all it takes is to ask two simple questions
The mere mention of which triggers an industry alert
Healthcare professionals immediately put on guard
For it augurs that one is at ease with their language
In retrospect it's surprising that one needs this bit of self advocacy
Jargon to be able to navigate this rugged terrain of uncertainty
An American landscape of billing codes, errors and complexity
Rigged. Defensive medicine in the face of litigious uncertainty
Of course these are just openings, an entrée into a conversation
You make your own luck afterwards, for these are fraught situations
Your body and mind will continue to confront daily adversity
And your interlocutors will contend with the vagaries of biology
And so to the questions, deceptively simple but specific
It is best to feign an aura of comfort with the scientific:
What is the diagnosis?
What is the prognosis?
Code, a playlist
A soundtrack for this note (spotify version)
- Code by José James
- Complicated by Leela James
- Code of the Streets by Gang Starr
- Tell Me by Groove Theory
- Complicated (remix) by Leela James and Anthony Hamilton
- It's Code by Janelle Monáe
- Dr Soul by Foster McElroy ft MC Lyte
- Code (Live) by José James
Writing log. October 8, 2022
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