I called my health insurance because I had not seen my premium amount come out of my online bank account on the 31st. What ensued was a long call trying (yet again) to get things straightened out.
She told me that maybe I should make another payment, because from what she could see, I was not paid for February. Which meant that maybe they still weren’t taking it out as an automatic draft from my bank. So I did that, fearing I’d get cancelled again. Then she dug deeper into this problem.
When they cancelled my health insurance in December (which I didn’t know until January), the agent here in town who was helping me said we should immediately sign me up again while they reviewed what happened in case they wouldn’t reinstate it.
I only had a few weeks to do that before they shut enrollment down for the year. Then I’d have no insurance until next year.
So we started that application, which, if accepted and the first one was not reinstated, would have begun on February 1. However they ended up reinstating my insurance beginning January 1.
But that caused problems. Because then they started splitting up my payments between these two accounts.
Now I have no idea how much I’ve actually paid, or when I will owe another payment. Or if I can trust that they will automatically take my automatic payment from my bank, though they’ve been doing this for years.
But get this. She told me that Blue Cross Blue Shield “accidentally” cancelled 7000 peoples’ medical insurance accounts in December, of which I was one. I joked that that probably meant that 6999 people ended up in the ER from the shock with no way to pay their bill.
Seven thousand. I couldn’t believe it.
Anyway, she cautioned that I should call back within 24-48 hours to make sure I was actually paid for February, though I paid it to her while on the phone. Because after all this mess, who knows anymore?
I’ve been meaning to tell you that last week the lawn guys finally dug up a huge (like 6 foot long huge) ugly and mostly dead cedar type shrub. It had a big nest of stickers in the gaping middle where it was completely dead.
I had been begging them to tear it out since I moved in April 2014. Finally under this new management they did it. Now you’d never know that ugly thing was ever there. I was so happy!
However without that ugly bush, you can now more readily see the side of my apartment between the fence and the alley where the previous maintenance man had used that of out of sight area to leave junk. When he put the fence back up after they tore the patio trees out, he just left the mess.
I’m asking them to clean it up. It’s all around the outdoor AC units (or whatever those things are called) for me and my next door neighbor. I don’t have a window out to that side, but I don’t have to see it daily to know it’s there.
I have enough ugly to look at. The back of the strip mall, trash and junk behind the maintenance shed. (I’m going to suggest they fence that area in so we don’t have to see that.)
It’s where old appliances often go to die. Or are stored to use again I suppose. Shopping carts from who knows where. Junk, once again, that the maintenance guys don’t want to haul off or simply have no place else to store them for future use.
Do you get all excited over every new shoot from your house plants? Well, I kind of do. Shows what little it takes to float my boat I suppose.
Look at the new anthurium flower! That excited me for sure. A baby flower to coddle and love. Yeah, I’d be a cheap date if I was actually interested in dating. Which I’m not.
Looky, looky! I love this plant because as the plant ages, the leaves split. I’m of course blocking on what the plant is called.
A better look at the new leaf. Note the drop of water at the end of the leaf.
Okay, that’s the extent of my news at the moment. Do you have any exciting weekend plans? I saw Andrew last weekend. So it’s just me and the pupsters this weekend.
After having been in the hospital for eight days, I have been waiting with anxious, bated breath to receive the insurance reports that everything has been covered with Medicare and our supplemental insurance. It’s nerve-racking. I’m sure it’s all ok, but I just don’t trust insurance companies. My husband lost his long term health care and life insurance because of a snafu in our mailing address. We heard later from our attorney that several other couples that he deals with had the same thing happen. Coincidence…..I think not.
I had to look you up on google. You weren’t coming through on my feed anymore. Happy to see you are still here, but fighting some of the same old problems.
Sorry you’re having to hassle with the insurance stuff again. Incredible–they cancelled 7,000 policies by mistake! What is their problem?
Yes, I do get excited over every little green shoot that appears on my plants! Or when the African violets begin to bloom. Or the “Christmas” cactus starts to have flower buds. I guess I’m just easily entertained, too! I do love my plants and fussing around with them.
Well the weekend is almost over. It goes so fast. I am still organizing and putting away Christmas decor, can you believe it? I didn’t put it away very well last year, so now I have to straighten out the mess.
I’m also trying to put together bird feeders with Mason jars and little, round metal chicken watering thingies. You fill a jar with birdseed and screw the watering thingie into the top of the jar. When you’re sure it’s on tightly turn the jar upside down and the seed goes into the watering thingie which has little round holes for the birds to eat out of. You can make a twine holder to hang it with or just set it on a flat surface. The little watering dishes are about $3. apiece at the farm store. The jars aren’t expensive either or use ones you have. I didn’t hang the one I made today until almost dark so I haven’t seen how the birds like it yet. I’ll report on that later!
Enjoy the rest of your weekend, Brenda!
I got a little sticker shock on my insurance this weekend myself. My husband decided to save $9 a month on my prescription insurance. Long story short- I told him THREE times to check and make sure this one med I am on was covered by the insurance. No problem. (right) – Anyway- I went to pick up my script and my out-of-pocket was $129.42!!!! Hello….it used to be $8.00 copay. I am just royally ticked off that he didn’t listen to me. Hopefully, this is not something I will be on forever but I will be on it for a while.
I hope you can get your insurance situation straightened out, Brenda. What a mess!
As far as you apartment goes-I am gad they FINALLY got that thing removed that you have been trying to make happen since you moved in. Maybe this new mgt co will finally start taking some proactive procedures rather than being reactive to things that HAVE to be done. I hope they will get everything cleaned up around the place. If I were you, I would send them a Thank You note of appreciation for taking care of that problem. A little honey in the tea goes a long way! They might be more willing to do even more if they know that what they are doing is appreciated.
Have a wonderful weekend. I am hanging quietly and watching it snow. xo Diana
Personally, I think that companies often ‘accidentally’ delete numbers of people so that they have to sign up again and the company makes some money off of their ‘mistake’. As the commenter from France said, socialized medicine is so much cleaner and cheaper. First of all, you don’t have to pay for the insurance company profits. I’ve lived in France and they sure didn’t have sick people living on the streets. In England with socialized health care, in some cases nurses come to your house to provide services. If you want, you can go to the doctor at your own expense. Most doctors serve national patients and self paying patients, so the care is equally good.
I am so lucky to now be on Medicare. I have been using it like crazy here with my medical mystery tour. It’s cost me some $$ but no where what it could have been. I am so lucky that our duplex managers are so good about keeping this area clean and repaired.
Ugh, insurance problems are the worst! I’m glad you found a wonderful agent to help you out though. I think it will be a quiet weekend for me. Brian is working all weekend and we’re also supposed to get snow starting this afternoon. A quiet weekend is fine with me…I’m looking forward to getting some things done around the house and just relaxing.
Your plant is a Split Leaf Philodendron or Monstera deliciosa.
What has happened with your insurance is an outrage!
Insurance companies are so infuriating! I hope they can get yours straight for you soon. Not much going on here this weekend but cleaning and hanging out with my cat. Also attempting to teach myself crochet.
Hi. I am sorry about your continued insurance issues. For the past four years or so, we have had our health coverage through Libertyhealthshares.org, which is a Christian healthcare cost sharing plan that is accepted by the Affordable Care Act. There are some other similar plans and if you do a search for healthcare cost sharing companies you could find them. There are various plans with our company depending on age, marriage status and so on, and my husband and I pay $299 a month for a plan for married people, plus a $75 yearly membership fee. We get preventive things paid for such as yearly physical, mammogram and so on, just like regular insurance. It would take too much space to keep writing about them, but, it could be worth looking into. It’s worked out OK for us, but we don’t have a lot of major health issues.
My son’s birthday was yesterday and I took him to a quick lunch on his lunch break. Today we will go to visit with him and his wife and watch some college basketball and eat chili dogs. Some snowy weather is moving in this evening so we will get home before that happens. Then my husband will give me a lesson in how to play chess. I’m not much of a game player, getting bored too quickly, but I think it would be good to learn chess so that we have something to stimulate out brains when we are older and grayer and can’t get out much! (Also, I just like the look of a chess board and the pieces all set up. Makes some nice décor!)
What a mess with your insurance. Don’t even get me started on insurance issues. Blue Cross Blue Shield is one of the top companies that makes billions of dollars each year and I hear the nightmares like yours and what Terry and I went through when he was unemployed and had paid for ours. What we had to pay each month for insurance was insane. This is so wrong on so many levels. Insurance companies are suppose to help people not rob them and worry about their bottom line. I hope this all is ok for you now. I am sorry you have had to deal with this headache. Things have to change in this country!!! Glad your management company is doing more for all of you than the other one did. Have a good weekend.
Hugs,
Kris
This has me shaking my head. Of course, 10 years ago, you probably wouldn’t be able to get any insurance at all, but these mixups are so unnecessary.
There was an accident at my kid’s school with fumes last month. Two dozen kids, including my own, were taken to the emergency room. There is nothing as terrifying as a call from school saying to go to the hospital. It all turned out OK and they were released after a few hours on oxygen to clear their lungs. A doctor talked to us all individually and gave us a couple of papers, and then we went home. No bills. No insurance. No co-pays. We pay taxes for health care, and how much you pay is based on how much money you have, not how healthy you are. The hospital isn’t out to make a profit. The doctors earn more than pretty much everybody else around–like 2-3 times the average salary. In the U.S., emergency room doctors make an average of $275K, which is 6.5 times the average U.S. salary. In France, doctors don’t have med school or university debt to pay–that’s funded by taxpayers as well. Having grown up in the U.S. but living for 20 years in Europe, I cannot emphasize how wonderful socialized medicine is.
Except when you need an operation and many people are ahead of you! England’s socialized medicine is horrible. A friend flew back to the USA to get an operation.
You certainly have been through the mill on medical insurance, and it is the worst thing to have complications with these days. I feel for you. I enjoy seeing your early sprouts as I’m a complete brown thumb so only have faux plants indoors. Hope your insurance problems get resolved and 2018 goes better for you.