I about lost my mind dealing with insurance last year when I was trying to get into a clinical trial and understand their appeals process.

The magic word I've have success with in a few cases was "peer-to-peer" phone call, in which an expert (usually your oncologist) speaks with a physician in the approvals department at the insurance company.

You may never get that far if you have United Health Care for insurance, but we can only hope for the best.

Fortunately I have a different insurance company that provides "concierge cancer care" for a very large employer and a top-notch patient advocate / nurse navigator to go along with it. We'll see how it goes as I resume the process of seeking clinical trials again this week.