insurance issues resolved?? sorry, this got long...

[Guest guest]

Thanks to you all for all of your concerns and well wishes. It looks

like it will all get resolved and we are still planning on leaving

Tuesday morning to head north - we'll spend 1 night in WV with my

step-mom and then head to Pittsburgh the next day to my husbands

friends house, thursday to the hospital to meet Dr. Luketich - and

stop in to see a!! and then Friday - I'm 1st on the schedule -

5:30 am.

So here's what happened. I work for a small company that's been

having some financial issues and it's all exacerbated by the slow

season we're in right now (it's a tourist town, population of only

32,000 full time residents, population during july 4th week - up to

500,000). So our premium didn't get paid on time and our policy was

cancelled as of oct 31st. So after many anxious hours waiting I spoke

with the boss who had just finished with Blue Cross (our group

policy) - he is driving to Durham on monday with a check and tells me

that the contact at blue cross will back date our policy to November

1st - meaning no lapse in coverage. I will get a phone call from him

on Monday and I'm going to request this contacts name and number so I

can verify this before we leave Tuesday morning.

in Australia - Maggie explained it pretty well. It's very

complicated here and while I admire the system you have (UK and

Canada as well) and I would LOVE to see coverage for everyone, I'm

just not sure we could really get it done effectively in a country

this size. The unfortunate part is that we have many, many people who

are either uninsured or under-insured.

my family has a group coverage policy through my job that is pretty

good but can be expensive. I can go to any doctors I want, any time

and Blue Cross is one of the biggest companies, so just about every

doctor takes it. I pay about $450/month for my family. Doctor visits

have a $20 copay, specialists are $40 ER is $150. Prescriptions are

anywhere from $10 - $40 depending on the type of drug. for

hospitalization, I have a $2500 deductible and then 20% co-pay up to

$2,000. So for my -ectomy (which should cost in the neighborhood of

$100,000) - I am paying $2500 deductible and $2,000 co-pay and my

insurance will cover the rest. Our policies vary greatly and our

monthly premium costs also vary greatly depending on the company you

work for. Sorry it's not easier than that - welcome to our world!!

It's especially upsetting because I REALLY like my job and these are

probably the best bosses I've EVER had and now it's all just kind of

wierd - they are embarrassed and we (the employees) are

understandably worried about the station failing and losing our jobs.

I'm keeping the faith and moving forward as planned.

I'll be leaving Tuesday morning, I'll try to get on Monday afternoon

before I go and is there someone that will be home on Friday

afternoon that my husband could call after surgery? He'll do easier

with a phone call than getting on here and posting.

Also, if anyone hears from a's family/friend - will you let

them know that I'll be at the hospital on Thursday and will try to

see her. We should cross paths somewhere.

Wow! it must have been serious is they're doing the surgery on a

Saturday!!

Moving on - 2 more days left of eating, 6 days and counting...

Much love to you all for the support and understanding you've all

supplied.

- in NC