Our Healthcare system is just silly.

Hello. Me again. More complaining.

Today I called my health care provider to make sure that the Catscan and Petscan I have scheduled for the 23rd will be covered under my insurance policy. I was informed that not only would they NOT be covered (which wasn't terribly surprising) I was also informed that NONE of the hospital visits related to my cancer will be covered. Since I was diagnosed at the end of July, and my coverage didn't start until Aug 1, it's a pre-existing condition. Which wouldn't have terribly surprised me either, save for the fact that I called the HCP on Sept 19th (when I got all of my enrollment package info and ID numbers and what-not) to ask them if I was going to be covered for these visits/surgery that I had either scheduled, or already done. I was told an emphatic yes. I would be covered and I didn't have to worry about it. Turns out I should have taken the name of the employee down, because today I got the "I don't know who you talked to, but that's not true" card played. Not a whole I can do from where I am sitting, I think, but we'll just wait and see what happens.

It just figures that just when things were starting to look up regarding all of this, it all just gets silly and back to dumb. What am I paying this insurance for? Just in case something ELSE happens to me this year, after cancer and an appendectomy? I don't foresee that happening, but it would pretty much make sense if something did happen.

So, I was told that NOTHING related to my cancer will be covered for 12 months. Which doesn't help me at all with making sure that it's gone, and follow up visits for skin checks/etc. Pretty sweet system we have here!

Not only that, but for all intensive purposes, my situation is one that either I pay for insurance and do less things like race and see a movie every now and then, or I don't have insurance and am fucked when something happens. It's a GREAT system.

I think it is amazing that somehow in the last 5 months I have amassed hospital bills totaling more than Margaret and my combined pre-tax income last year.

Yeah! That's amazing!

And she's leaving for Puerto Rico tomorrow at 4:30 am, and I work this evening, so I'll see her for about an hour, if I had to guess. Pretty good day I'm having, huh. But seriously, I'm really excited for her. This is a very good opportunity to have some fun (night kayaking!!?) and learn and meet some of her future colleagues. It's amazing. Just jealous, that's all.

I think I'm done. Someone should make a documentary about me. It'd be boring, though...