See my cute boys?
(As a totally random aside--dang! Can't believe how much that power washing helped our sidewalks, porch and driveway! Looks so dirty in this picture! Good job scouts!)
They have no health insurance. And that scares me. A lot.
Today is day #9 with no health insurance.
We've had recent reminders of the importance of health insurance. Remember that meningitis bit? Expensive! If it had been without insurance? Dang. And our last weekend with insurance, we decided we should take advantage of it one last time with a trip to the ER. Chris sliced his hand open and we ran to the ER to have them fix it up. Can't imagine without insurance how fun it would have been. We may soon find out! :)
Chris has his own company. Which is great!!! We have learned soooo much this last year and he is doing awesome! And he has so many irons in the fire he's not sure which to pull out first! Great, right?
BUT! Health insurance is a major issue for us.
I admit--I used to be a bit judgmental on this topic. I'd hear about health insurance issues and think...well, go get health insurance then!
That was then. When I had health insurance.
We have been on COBRA up until now because we have been unsuccessful in buying private health insurance. We keep being denied because of various pre-existing health conditions. Supposedly this health reform bill was supposed to make it so they couldn't do that. But apparently Texas is fighting it...which translates into...us fighting it too.
We've looked into CHIPS at least for the kids. We do not qualify because Chris makes too much.
So, as far as I can tell, that leaves us with the following options:
1. Have no health insurance
2. Chris works for somebody else instead of himself so that we can get health insurance
3. Krista goes back to work--just for the insurance
4. Earn significantly less money so we can qualify for medicaid or CHIPS or something
I choose none of the above. At least I wish I could choose none of the above.
I've asked every doctor, nurse, receptionist, insurance salesmen, friend, neighbor. Anyone I can think of to see if they know of any other options. I've turned up nothing.
Krista's commentary? Sad that small businesses and people working for themselves are forced back into working for someone else if they want to have health insurance. Sad for sure.
Meanwhile, since we are a business, we pay double for medicaid and medicare and such. We pay the company portion and our individual portion. Nice that I can pay double every month for insurance for somebody else, but no one will allow me to even purchase it for myself! I'm WILLING and ABLE to pay for my own insurance! BUT NO ONE WILL LET US! Messed up system. (Disclaimer: Ok...last time I mentioned this, I was teased about mentioning medicaid and medicare. I have absolutely nothing against these programs...nor anyone that has ever used them. Just frustrated that I have zero good options and that I am forced to pay for the programs when no one will give me an opportunity to pay for my own. Selfish? Yes. I know. Sorry!)
So for now, I guess we will just pray for no major health issues and brush up on our negotiation skills if we do. :)
P.S. Even with private health insurance...seems like none of them have maternity coverage--anyone out there with private insurance--how do you go about that? Just save your money and pay for it outright? Not an announcement by any means--just curious for future reference! :)
4 months ago
8 comments:
I feel your pain, Krista!!! In Utah, we were poor enough to get Medicaid, but since moving to Texas I haven't applied because once Tom starts working we will be ineligible.
Anyway, I found this website: http://www.tdi.state.tx.us/index.html
It's the Texas Department of Insurance. I have just barely looked over it, but it might have some places to go. If I find anything, I'll let you know, and if you find anything, please let me know!!!!
Good luck!! Hang in there!!
Not really related to your post - but every time I read your blog, I get more and more excited to see you! Counting the months! (Soon to be weeks, than days, hours, minutes ...) LOVE, Love, love your Caleb-isms!
I tried so hard to buy private insurance when we lived in IN with not much luck. I had the same problems you do. I couldn't find anything that covered maternity. Why is that? I do know this - when you pay in cash, as in I-will-be-paying-you-right-now-for-services-rendered-today cash, you get a HUGE discount. Most insurance companies only pay a portion of your bill, you pay a portion, and the rest gets written off. If you're a cash patient, you can usually still just pay a portion, as long as you're paying up front. Just let them know you're paying in cash, and ask for a discount. So, save up those extra bucks and hope nothing happens? I hear you, the "system" sucks!!!
The cost of health care and health insurance is so frustrating. Sorry to see you and your family are having to deal with all this. One thing you might look into is whether you or Chris belong to any organizations that might have group health insurance options. I know bar associations offer group insurance options as a membership benefit. Not sure if this would offer a solution to the pre-existing condition issue though. If you aren't a member of any groups that offer group health rates, then all you have to do is go to law school, graduate, pass a bar exam, then join a bar association : ).
I would definitely share your story with your representative in Congress, your Senators, and your state gov't reps. They need to hear stories like yours--about real people who are working hard, raising a family, paying their taxes, yet are unable to receive affordable health coverage.
It took a while but I finally thought of another group that might offer insurance for members--college alumni associations. I would hope that with the insurance being offered as part of a group that they would be less likely to turn anyone down. How frustrating that you are able and willing to pay for insurance but no one will take your money!!??
Depending on how old Chris is you should really look into the military reserves or guard. Amazing insurance and he only works 1 weekend a month. The training stuff take a while at first but you get paid really well while he is at training (basic pay, housing and food allowance, separation pay) the insurance is $200 a month per family, which is about how much he would make working the 1 weekend a month. The deductibles are insanely low and a lot of places accept Tricare. You pick where you live and have a bit more control of things (as opposed to active duty) We're switching to reserves in a month and wish we had done it that way from the start. He'll be stationed in Washington state but we're going to live in Utah so he can go to BYU. Anyway, there are my 2 bits on the subject! good luck! And i think it's just crazy that you can't get coverage. Seriously MESSED up system!
We have been back and forth with whether insurance is worth it or not. It seemed like with the monthly payments, co-pay, and % paid out, we could pay for our medical costs in cash. We just set a monthly amount aside in an ING account (usually higher interest)Whatever we would being paying in insurance costs, and then when we have Dr. appointments or whatever, we use that account. That is how we paid for the last baby we had. It seemed to be a better option for us. But our health issues are pretty minimal.
Small business owners do totally get the bad end of things. We've never worked for someone where we've gotten health insurance (bah!), so we've had to go private for everything, which is frustrating anyway. I like the bank account idea, though. Maybe we'll have to consider doing something like that. It just seems crazy to pay hundreds of dollars a month into a hole, just in case one of us gets cancer or something since the only insurance we can afford to pay monthly is for ones with a high deductible. You really should copy and paste your posts about health care and mail them to the senators/reps here in Tejas.
By the way - wow that Chris is on the high council now. That's a lot of commitment there! What is he over?
And hi, by the way. Your boys are still hilarious and darling. :)
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