That Darn Insurance Company

We recently had to change insurance companies. For the past nine years, the fam and I had been on hubby's health insurance. I guess I was totally spoiled rotten with the good benefits we enjoyed. Since he was economic victim number 5, 457, 912, we had to get insurance through my job. Wow is all I can say.

Just wow.

The differences are startling. I have no idea how people survive with this so called health insurance. One would think that a public school district would at least add good insurance benefits. Humph!

It looked fine on the surface... but then I actually had to use it this week. No problem because I'm insured, right? Well, I called the insurance company because I noticed my copay amounts were not printed on my card. It turns out that there are no copays. Sounds good, right? WRONG! It is all deductible and coinsurance. So, where I used to pay a $20 or $25 copay and the insurance picked up the rest at 100%, this company had a $350 deductible that had to be paid BEFORE they will pay anything... even for an office visit! After that, I would still have to pay 20%. Now, call me crazy because this may be how it is for most people, but this is not at all what I have grown accustomed to. The really bad part is that, when I need to take Ryan or the girls to the doctor now, I will have to pay a deductible of $350 for EACH of them before the insurance pays anything for them. They do stop the bloodletting at at a cap of $1,050 (three individual copays for a family), but still. I think this whole thing stinks!

Is it just me? Is this what you have had to put up with? Have I just been too spoiled to realize that this is what insurance coverage has been reduced to?

New Beginnings

My husband lost his job today.

I came home after having a horrific day at work. Actually, it could have been a worse work day, but it was not a good one just the same. My husband, being the very practical sort, told me he needed to talk to me and then informed me that he had been "let go" today. Let go. Just two days ago, they were told that one site was being shut down and that every person except one at that site would be losing their jobs. His site thought they were safe for a few months at least.

Instead of getting all panicky, I really felt a tremendous sense of peace. I hugged him and told him that I was sorry it happened to him. Then I said, "God never closes one door without opening another, and you didn't like that job anyway."

Where had that come from?

He had worked for the company for almost 9 years, but he did not like it. It was not his passion by any stretch of the imagination. It was just a job, really. A job that he kept because the insurance benefits were very good. They completely covered so many things that many other plans would not dream of covering. It paid for all of the tests and procedures I underwent to finally have my babies. It paid for my high risk prenatal care and biweekly ultrasounds, my long hospital bedrest stay, and the outrageous NICU bill once the girls were born prematurely. It paid for the $1000 each RSV shots the twins got every month after they came home. It also paid for my oral surgery and for my once-a-year designer sunglasses with the polarized lenses. All at 100%. For that, he stayed and I am grateful.

Still, it was just a job. One that was a tremendous blessing at the time when a tremendous blessing was needed; but it was also a place where he was not truly happy and had become a chore to go to.

You see, I think we get so caught up in the business of day-to-day living that we fail to recognize when God has released us from something (or someone!) and moved our blessing somewhere else. There has to be very little worse than that. Now, my man has got to get with God and find where he is really supposed to be.

Instead of dread about how we're going to pay the bills, I feel as if a weight is lifted for some reason. We may have to eventually move into a smaller house or even a condo. That's okay with me. (Besides, when I mentioned this to our son, Ryan, he simply shrugged his shoulders and informed me that he doesn't really like this house anymore since the break-in). We'll have to really tighten our belts and cut out a lot of extras. Okay. We can do that. Maybe we won't be able to go on the trip I've had my eye on. Whatever.

Maybe now my husband can return to school (a dream that he gladly deferred when I voiced my own desire to return to school several years ago). Maybe this is his turn to finally follow his dreams.

The sky is the limit, really. I know the economy is pretty crappy right now. I realize that he might have to find another "job" in the interim. Maybe I'll pick up a private tutoring gig a couple evenings a week or for a couple of hours on Saturdays. The point is that whatever we need to do, WE will do because we're a team. We rise, we fall, we sink, and we swim TOGETHER. That's just how we roll...

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Pizza Hut--Blacklisted!

Pizza Hut is the latest establishment to be added to my personal blacklist. I placed an order tonight and received the worst ever customer service. If you know me at all, you know how highly I value great service. You also know that I have already lodged a written complaint to their corporate offices. I'll keep you posted on their response.

Coke is NOT the real thing!

As a consumer and otherwise concerned American, I am so NOT happy with Coca-Cola. I understand that a business' bottom line is important, but I am not pleased with the way they are going about it.

You see, on December 1 (just a few weeks before Christmas, mind you), Coca-Cola will be laying off people here. Their offices handle much of the collections and back office type work. The operation is being outsources to Guatemala. Earlier in the year, there had been some buzz about this and which of the countries overseas would actually be the recipient of the outsourcing. Well, here it is.

Now, this is not the part I think is so cold. The severance package they announced earlier this year SUCKS! Apparently, employees will receive one week of pay for each year they've worked there. So, the lowly employee with one year of service would only get one week's pay. That's it. So, there will be a lot of kids this year wondering why Christmas missed their houses. Oh, and they have even been holding meetings telling the employees that their numbers are down and that they have to get productivity up. Ummm. Hello!!! You're firing them in a couple of weeks and you're wondering why in the hell morale is low?!! Let me help you here, Mr. Coke Guy. You're giving their jobs away to the Guatemalans you're currently training! But, to Coke's credit (I say this with my tongue firmly planted in my cheek), they are holding job search classes to help the employees get their resumes together so they can find other jobs. Ummm, one more thing, Mr. Coke Guy... the F-ing economy is on the verge of collapse and unemployment is the highest it's been in a decade! There's pretty much NO ONE hiring at year's end, you MORON!

I guess you can tell that I'm sooooo pissed, huh? It's just that, in light of all of the problems with the economy IN THIS COUNTRY, we have a company that has been pretty much synonymous with every American pasttime throwing even more Americans into the unemployment lines for the sake of a few more dollars, much of which will end up in senior level executive's pockets.

That's just great, Coca-Cola. You've lost my business and the business of many Americans, I hope, once this story gets out. Hey, but at least you're helping to boost the economy of Guatemala. Too bad that when vendors have to call you with an issue, they will be speaking to people who they can barely understand. As it is now, your IT department is in India and your employees have to wait up to two weeks to get logins and passwords that work.

Coke, you SUCK!!!! I hope you remember how you've treated your American employees when you want a government bailout within the year because your sales are down.