A Glorious Tribute to all Countries, but mostly America

We’re back from vacation (of course) and Christmas is over (double of course), and I am back to work this week (balls).

Can I complain about my health insurance for a minute?

I pay about $200 each pay period for health insurance, that is $400 a month to cover myself, Dave and the two kids. Then, every time we go to the doctor, it costs a $15-20 co-pay for the office visit and if there is any medical procedure that needs to be performed, that isn’t covered until we satisfy the annual deductible (which is $1500 per person or $4500 for the family if we go to doctors that are in their network. If we go to doctors that are out of the network then the deductible goes up to $2500 and $7500). Beyond that, prescription coverage is really hard to figure out because they have this really complicated chart that divides drugs into “tiers” and then assigns the percentage of coverage based on the tier the drug falls into and also takes into account if there is a generic version available. If there is a generic, you have to get that or they won’t cover it at all.

I think our plan is considered to be one of the better plans. I work for a large global corporation and I think the payroll deduction is also on the lower end of things.

Thankfully, we are a pretty healthy family. But just to give you a taste, Dave had a little cyst that had to be removed and biopsied this year. He was at the doctor’s office a total of approximately 30 minutes. The actual procedure took about 10 minutes from the time they numbed it to the time they stitched it. That cost me over $300 because I had to pay the doctor for the procedure, the office visit co-pay and then I had to pay for the lab to perform the biopsy.

As I said, we are, thankfully, a pretty healthy family, so the doctor’s visits are pretty minimal. We really don’t go to the doctor much (like probably 1-2 visits each per year and those are mostly well visits). However, I’m sure I have mentioned before that I am a lifetime insomniac. I have tried everything from meditation to medication for this and it has always been a struggle. And with the stress work has been giving me, it has gotten so much worse. I have a hard time falling asleep (if I fall asleep an hour after I get in bed, that is pretty good) and when I do fall asleep I wake up about every hour to hour and a half. I have tried a couple of different medications and they work for a while and then stop. Until I started taking Ambien CR. That has worked consistently for a couple years now. I only take it during the week, and I don’t abuse it. I have never taken more than one pill in a 24 hour period. I fall asleep when I get in bed and usually stay asleep until at least 3am, sometimes even later. It is the best I have slept in years and it costs me about $40-50 a month for the prescription. That is a 30 day supply and I can stretch it to last me at least 6 weeks or more.

So can I live without Ambien? Yes. But it sure has taken one stress out of my life.

My company held their open enrollment in October (where you choose your health plan for the next year). This is also the time when you can decide if you want to contribute to the health care spending account (money held from your paycheck pre-taxed that you can use for health care related expenses). I opted not to use the spending account this year because, as I said, we don’t go to the dr much and it is a pain to track.

So last week I got a letter from the insurance company that they are no longer covering Ambien CR. There is no generic version so if I want to continue taking it, I have to pay cash. I looked around and I don’t think I can get a 30 day supply for less than $160ish. Kiss my ass.

So I pay every paycheck for my health insurance that I pretty much never have a claim against and then the one thing I do use it for and they decide they just aren’t going to cover it anymore. It really pisses me off. If I had known they were going to do that, I would have looked in the changing to a high deductible plan because we really just need to be covered if something catastrophic happens, I’m paying out of my pocket for everything else anyway. Or, I would have at least put some money in the spending account for it, but it is too late now.

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate that I have insurance and will be covered if one of us gets really sick, but gees, what if one of us does get really sick and then the insurance company decides that they don’t want to cover the prescribed treatment? I guess that is their choice and they can do whatever they want.

Other things they don’t cover: Fertility treatments of any sort and counseling. So basically anything I might want to utilize.

But hey, if I gain 150 lbs, become a diabetic and start abusing alcohol and drugs, well, all those treatments are covered. So I guess I just have the wrong ailments.

We are leaving in two days and I am having massive trouble applying myself to the things I need to finish before we go. (Like work)

I was super ambitious this weekend and made Becca clean up her pigsty room (which was so full of stuff that we were considering making her watch an episode of Hoarders). I also made her try on all her clothes and managed to glean a huge bag clothes that don’t fit her to be donated to the Salvation Army. I also gleaned two bags of trash. Dave commented that he could not believe I got that much stuff out of there especially since it has been only about 6 months since the last time I did this. The amount of stuff my MIL buys for the kids borders on obscene. I think she has resorted to keeping some of it at her house so that I don’t know it exists. I have become pretty ruthless about it. If she buys something for the kids that is unsanctioned, I will take it to the goodwill. Or, for every 1 new item that comes into our house, I make Becca choose 2 items to give away (or throw away – it depends on the condition. I am a firm believer that the goodwill is not a place to unload your trash).

Anyway, in the course of all the room cleaning, I also managed to get Becca mostly packed. I just will need to do a couple loads of laundry before we go.

My stuff is half packed, which isn’t half bad for me. I am trying to avoid being up until 2 am the night before we go although I don’t know if that is possible. One thing I did do was locate the chargers to both cameras and charge them. If you recall, when Dave and I went to Arizona last spring, I waited until the night before we left to figure out that the camera battery was dead and I could not find the charger to save my life. Therefore, we did not take my nice camera and I had to buy a point and click while we were there. So this time I am lugging the nice camera and the little point and click because, as I mentioned previously, I am an overpacker. I have also decided to take the portable DVD player (even though my husband has advised against it) because my just in case mentality has caused me to consider the possibility that it is winter and it is very possible we may encounter delays flying back to the winter wonderland that is Michigan. Hey, I’m not being negative, this is a genuine possibility and I want to be prepared because I cannot handle the endless strings of “I’m bored” that would surely ensue should we encounter even a 2 hour delay. It is worth it to me to lug the DVD player. Does anyone other than my husband have a problem with that?

I didn’t think so.

I still have a list of things to buy at Meijer. Including protein bars so we don’t have to buy breakfast every day, individually wrapped butt wipes (did you know they make those?) which Meijer has been out of the last 3 times I have been there, and toothbrushes because 3 of the 4 occupants in my house use electric toothbrushes which I am decidedly not lugging with us.

I also still have not managed to squeeze in the pedi. I might have to ped-egg myself instead.

Oh and I just remembered, I need a DVD holder because I have nothing to house the DVD’s in other than their bulky plastic cases which will not do. I may be an overpacker, but I still know how to maximize space.

Meandering

Today was an 8 snooze morning. Yes, I said 8 snoozes. It might have even been 9. I did not want to get up. I don’t understand how you peeps who work outside the home and who have little babies in the house that are waking you up for nighttime feedings make it to work. Ever. I don’t have babies waking me up and I am still considering cutting my hair off to make my mornings easier.

Also, I have a big zit on the side of my nose, you know that place where your know meets your face? It hurts and it’s ugly.

Also, We are leaving for Disney World in 9 days and I cannot wait. Must. Have. vacation.

We have a busy busy weekend and I wish we didn’t have any plans. Friday night is Dave’s work party which is an hour from our house. Saturday I have to finish my Christmas shopping because we are leaving the following Saturday and we get back the Sunday before Christmas which leaves me no time. Sunday is my mom’s birthday and we are supposed to be going out to dinner. Somewhere in there I would like to squeeze in a pedicure and I need to finish as much laundry as possible and start figuring out what clothes we are taking (the weather in Orlando in December is a crapshoot), which suitcase gets assigned to who and who is taking what carryon on the plane. I also have to ask and answer questions such as, “Should we lug the portable DVD player?(It’s only a 2 hour flight)” “Should I lug my laptop?” “How much reading will I really be able to do and what books/magazines should I take?” “How much cash will we need?”

I would also like to mention that I am a notorious overpacker. Especially when it comes to underwear. I think that sometime in my past I must have been caught somewhere with no clean underwear because I absolutely must pack enough underwear so I can wear 3 clean pairs a day if needed. Does anyone else do this or is this another example of how I am a freak?

Ouch, I just accidentally scratched that heinous zit on the side of my face for, like, the 16th time today. Ouch.