Insurance Follies

Insurance Follies

I’ve got so much fun stuff to talk about today, I don’t know where to begin, but I’ll pick something.

1. Work – The adjustment back to being a member of the working class has been somewhat hard. The drive is 22.5 miles each way to and from work, and I have to go into the office (Corporate Policy). Then there’s the matter of my being the only person at the office doing the work I do (the rest of the team is in the hinterlands of California, New Jersey, and Tampa Bay) gives me very few options in terms of asking other members of my team about what the heck I’m supposed to be doing. My manager has a cube near me, but he tends to work from home. “Tends” is actually a code-word for “is 95 percent of the time”.
2. Birthing Classes – I made it through the Week 3 films without any ill effects. We are learning how to assist our beloved’s in case there are such complications as back labor (DEF: when the baby’s rotated the wrong way along the Z-axis). There was one point where we were all massaging our wives, and I looked up briefly. I was very, very glad no one had a camera with them.
3. Insurance – The loss of my job and subsequent benefits at TI has carried some residual effects. We made the decision to switch to Laureen’s insurance through Garland ISD, since it appeared at the time that COBRA was going to be too expensive. We found out yesterday that Garland’s insurance considers her pregnancy a pre-existing condition and is willing to pay a grand total of $500 toward it. For those of you unfamiliar with skyrocketing hospital costs, it costs an average of $10,000 to have a child in a hospital. The OB/GYN fees are usually a flat $3,000 or so, and the hospital nickel-and-dimes the remaining amount out of you (charging per ice chip, I guess…). Now, some of you may be wondering why Laureen’s pregnancy is considered a pre-existing condition. We switched insurances in December, and because Garland ISD’s insurance is (and I quote) a “self-funded non-governmental organization”, they are free from all sorts of HIPPA rules and regulations requiring insurance carriers to admit people with pre-existing conditions….
Big sigh. Laureen spent the remainder of her yesterday (after getting out of Garland’s jury duty) getting us back on Nortel’s COBRA benefits. We can actually still do that. Yay! Of course, we have to back pay for December, January, and February all at once at roughly $700 a month, but hey, we can have Jacob in a hospital! No, home birth is NOT AN OPTION. I don’t care what everyone else’s circumstances were.
4. Car and truck woes – Well, my dad was kind enough to babysit the truck while we were in Boston, and he noticed that the thermostat was malfunctioning. Sure enough, it’s not working, so there’s another $350 down the tubes. Oh, and the right rear wheel is shaking, not like a polaroid picture (dig the cultural reference?), but more like a top that’s starting to wind down. Apparently that’s a bent axle, which at the dealership is another $650.
5. The Super Bowl Halftime Show – I saw the show, but I missed the part causing the brouhaha, mostly because I wasn’t exactly looking for it. We know one thing for certain: we can lay the “Michael and Janet — one person?” rumor to rest. Frankly, I’m beginning to think that they should go back to simple halftime shows. Invite some local bands, like the MOB, to play. We haven’t caused a controversy since 1989!
Seriously, I put a lot of blame on Viacom, the parent company of both CBS and MTV, for trying to meld together all of their properties without any real idea as to whether it was a good idea or not to have certain artists play. Frankly, I’m disappointed by a lot of halftime productions that happened this year; the Orange Bowl had four unhearable artists, including:
6. Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson – I don’t care how stupid she plays on TV, they both know how good the ratings buzz is. Keep marketing it while you can, kids. Oh, where’s that new 98 degrees album?
7. Celebrity Trials – Kobe: if not guilty, then stupid, stupid, stupid. Michael Jackson: if not guilty, then weird, weird, weird. All others: if not guilty, then adjective, adjective, adjective.
8. The proposed $2.4 TRILLION budget – how can an entity take in so much money and still not be able to balance their books like mom and pop companies have to do? Oh, yeah, there’s nothing requiring the government to balance their books (don’t talk to me about Gramm-Rudman — that succeeded largely through accounting tricks such as shifting expenses forward into the next year).
9. Gun Control – I ran across an interesting article at corporatemofo.com: Check it out
10. The Case For Or Against Iraq – Yes, the U.S. didn’t have the best intelligence before it rolled out the case for invading Iraq. Let’s remember one thing, however: the U.S. attacked Milosevic’s army on purely humanitarian grounds twice during Clinton’s terms, and Hussein was arguably ten times worse than Milosevic. The only problem is that this argument wasn’t the primary cause given to the American People about why we should attack Iraq. It was all about the Weapons, baby. If the government had presented other reasons to the world community and to us as a people, I believe it would have gathered more support.
11. Pakistan – Ah, what to do, what to do. Hey, they had a guy give away nuclear secrets to the axis of evil! Why don’t we just bomb them? Oh, they’re our allies in the fight against terrorism. That’s the biggest problem with simplification in a world where there are very, very few things that can be considered simple.
12. Current reading list – Zero Hour by Joseph Finder, Digital Fortress by Dan Brown (of the Da Vinci Code fame), Why America Slept by Gerald Posner, Bushwhacked by Molly Ivins and Lou DuBose, Our childbirth class book, Survivor by Mark Bennett (recapping the first episode).
13. Current watching list – Like I have time for TV anymore…that’s why we have a PVR! Good Eats, Monster House on the Discovery Channel (funny, funny show), 7th Heaven (which has completely jumped the shark), Unwrapped on the Food Network, Gilmore Girls (excellent, excellent writing on this show), Most Extreme Elimination Challenge (will they show any new episodes this year? Who knows?), Survivor All-Stars (yes, I got sucked in).
14. Conference Realignment – I’m convinced that TCU is afraid of Rice. They left Conference USA just to avoid them…

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4 Responses to Insurance Follies

  1. DeRigeur says:

    From Bushie’s speech before the Congressional vote:

    "The lives of Iraqi citizens would improve dramatically if Saddam Hussein were no longer in power, just as the lives of Afghanistan’s citizens improved after the Taliban. The dictator of Iraq is a student of Stalin, using murder as a tool of terror and control, within his own cabinet, within his own army, and even within his own family.

    On Saddam Hussein’s orders, opponents have been decapitated, wives and mothers of political opponents have been systematically raped as a method of intimidation, and political prisoners have been forced to watch their own children being tortured.

    America believes that all people are entitled to hope and human rights, to the non-negotiable demands of human dignity. People everywhere prefer freedom to slavery; prosperity to squalor; self-government to the rule of terror and torture. America is a friend to the people of Iraq. Our demands are directed only at the regime that enslaves them and threatens us. When these demands are met, the first and greatest benefit will come to Iraqi men, women and children. The oppression of Kurds, Assyrians, Turkomans, Shi’a, Sunnis and others will be lifted. The long captivity of Iraq will end, and an era of new hope will begin.

    Iraq is a land rich in culture, resources, and talent. Freed from the weight of oppression, Iraq’s people will be able to share in the progress and prosperity of our time. If military action is necessary, the United States and our allies will help the Iraqi people rebuild their economy, and create the institutions of liberty in a unified Iraq at peace with its neighbors.

  2. DeRigeur says:

    — Neat article on "Arming America."

  3. Bill says:

    Kevin,
    I’d talk to the folks at Garland ISD, because unless she was unemployed before 6 months ago (isn’t that about right?) then they have to cover it. Also, if she was under your insurance, they also ought to be forced to let her in. Ask them to show you the portion of the policy where it describes who they can not cover, unless they can, they ought to give it to you.
    Also, Pre-existing conditions are only supposed to protect insurance companies from people who join a group coverage after they know there’s something wrong (or right, in the case of a baby). If she was covered before, and there was no gap in coverage, she should be ok. As I mentioned earlier, make them show you (or Laureen) the part of the contract that definesw pre-existing conditions and when you’re not covered. I doubt they can do it. They may just be cheap bastards who are trying to get out of paying claims. Funny how that can happen. They’re generally sorry bastards, it helps if you can get just as stubborn and hardheaded as they are.
    See what knowing a former insurance guy gets you? Now, if you want to manufacture large quantities of electronic gear for eventual sale through various distribution channels, I might be able to help you there too. Hope the new job’s going well, I’ll talk to you soon.

    Bill

  4. obsolete question? says:

    does serenebabe.com still work or not? I can never get it to display

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