Orthotics

Man, it sucks when I have to get orthotics and I'm only 32. But with the recent lower back pain.. pain on my big toe from a bunion..and the foot of my arches hurting even from just walking less than a mile... I caved in and going through with the whole process. But DANG!! The process is so long and tedious when you have an HMO. Here's what I have to go through:

Get an appointment with my primary doctor. (~1 week)
Go to the appointment with my primary to get a referral to see a podiatrist.
Wait for the referral. (~3 weeks)
Get the referral through the mail and make an appointment for the podiatrist. (~2 weeks)
Go to the appointment with the podiatrist...

Now, the podiatrist says I have to get orthotics but says my insurance won't cover it and if it does it won't be as good as what they give. Hence, they give me an estimate of $424. Yeesh. And in the back of my head... I remember my primary saying just go through the HMO. So, I was going to call the podiatrist to say that I would go through the HMO instead of doing out of pocket.. but I figured I'd just go to the appointment.

I go to the appointment today to let them know... and they told me it'll be another 3 weeks to go through the HMO. And then they made such a huff about me waiting til the appointment to tell them I wanted to go through my HMO. So rude.

Anyways.. so again I wait. So... from first visit to now.. 3 months have gone by. aiy.