I HAVE not dreaded thin envelopes so much since applying to college.

They are showing up with alarming regularity lately: forms from our health insurance company inexplicably denying payment — or only partly paying — for something we believed was covered.

We read the codes and try to figure out why we are paid $30 for a $300 visit; they may as well have been written in Latin.

And when we try calling, all too often we end up in a voice mail maze.

There is little comfort in knowing we are not alone. Mention the issue of insurance reimbursement and almost everyone recounts a grim story about being underpaid or overcharged or simply denied.

“Insurance is really complicated and really expensive, so it’s never going to go smoothly,” said Gary Claxton, vice president of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

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