The “Believe Me” Policy…

I woke up this morning reflecting on a funny thing that happened to me.

Yesterday, I started the day as I usually do. Making coffee, drinking my 30 oz, of water with lemon and apple cider vinegar. (my body is loving this new habit…)

My wife, Malia, was going to fly to Washington DC to visit a really close college friend and spend a few days with her, so we said our good-byes and she caught a Lyft to the airport  at 6:30 am.

I returned to my big brown leather lazy boy chair that I inherited from my dad when he passed away.

I love sitting in this chair.

So many great times pulling back that little handle (flipper) on the side, putting my feet up and relaxing.

Morning conversations with Malia. Drinking my coffee. Thinking, reading, praying. New insights. I get refreshed and renewed there. Our cat will jump up on me and nuzzle in as I pet her. It’s a nice place there in my chair.

I think everybody should have a place like this that is special. A safe quiet place to reflect and prepare your heart for the day ahead.

Today, as I sat in my big brown leather chair and mulled over the previous day,  I laughed as I rehearsed something that had happened yesterday that was pretty profound.

One of my personal errands was to drop by Kaiser pharmacy to pick up a prescription.

When I finally got to the window to pay for it, the guy tells me that I have no insurance and it’s going to be almost $2000!

What? You have got to be kidding…right? I told him that I had insurance. He said that it didn’t show up in the system and that it had been “member” terminated, and if I had any questions to check with patient services.

Of course the first thing that hits me, is how did this happen, and “oh no!”  Because of my pulmonary embolism in August of 2016, I am thinking that if something else happens to me, we’d be wiped out financially. Malia is traveling and what would happen if something happened to her and we are not covered, Did I do something wrong during open enrollment renewal? What the heck…

So, I head over to the patient services department.

The friendly young woman looks up my file, and says “you are absolutely right, you have no coverage, you need to call your insurance carrier.”

I head out the door, and find a spot to call. After 30 minutes of endless prompts to press this number, then press that number, I was not able to reach a real live person, no matter how many buttons I pressed. Even after pressing “0” I got a message saying “that is not a recognized entry.”

Frustrated, and because my phone battery was dying, I decided to go to the car to run other errands, recharge my phone, and maybe I could call another number later.

As I went down the elevator, and headed out to the parking lot, the worry voice in my head became pretty loud. “This is bad. This sucks. What am I going to do? How am I going to get my medications? What happens if I pass out?” This went on and on, unchecked until I just about reached the car.

Another voice deep inside me, gentle and sure, says “David, don’t you think I have this covered? What if you just believe Me?”

At that moment I had a choice to make.

Believe that I would be taken care of, that these circumstances do not rule the day, and that the situation would be resolved… or not believe.

I began to pray and thank God that He was in charge and not me, I gave the situation over to Him, and as I did, I felt a great deal of peace.

I hop in my car.

Head to Petco to pick up cat food. On the way there I get a text from my  insurance agent with the phone number of my insurance company, so I pulled over, and called.

After finding my account in their system, the nice lady on the other end of the line tells me, “you are covered, everything is fine our end. Call the Kaiser billing department and check to make sure you’ve been paying your premiums.”

I called Kaiser back.

They looked me up in their system. Put me on hold. Came back on the line. “Mr. McKinney, you are current on your payments, Your insurance is in force. It just wasn’t updated in our system.”

I told her that I needed to get a prescription and they had turned me away (unless I paid cash…) And then it she said this….

“Mr. McKinney, we have a policy in place for these types of cases, Just go back the pharmacy and tell them that you want to activate the “Believe Me” policy.“  I said, “the Believe Me” policy? That is the wildest thing I have heard in a while. Just walk in and say ‘Believe Me’ ?”  “Yes sir…just tell them that”

I head back to Kaiser, happy, relieved and laughing. “The Believe Me policy… where did I hear that before?”

The story ends with the same pharmacy worker who I saw probably two hours before, handing me my medications, and thanking me for my patience.

Nothing like real life stories that bring home a point. I remember the verse in in John 6:29 – Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”  and again in Mark 10 verse 27 – “Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.”

Today, from my big brown chair, I have reconnected with this story and what it means to me personally. A brilliant life lesson  that made “just believe” and “believe me”  so very real.

What’s the promise over your life where you can activate the “believe me” policy today?  You are covered too.