The Migraine Guessing Game: An Insurance Headache

Written by Jess Salomon / Illustration by Roger Miller-Kim

I was at the neurologist, and she was asking me how many migraines I was getting a month. I always undercounted, maybe because I didn’t want to seem like I was exaggerating or because it felt too horrible to admit to myself. So I’d say 8. And then she’d say, “Headaches count too.” It took me a few visits before I realized I needed to say 10 or 12 (I can’t remember) for my insurance to cover the medication (it might have been Botox).

She’d be making these eyes at me like, “Are you sure it’s not more?” I was like, “Is there someone else here? Why are we talking like this?” It felt like a game of you’re getting warmer. At one point I said, “Is there a number you need me to say?”

We went through this again when I needed to hit the “right” number of migraines after starting the medication to show that it was working and that the insurance should keep paying for it.

This was written by Jess Salomon (@jess_salomon) and illustrated by Roger Miller-Kim (@r_edgar_hoover)