I made it! It's like reaching shore after a long, grueling swim through shark-infested water. At least that's how it seems to me. Someone who's never made a long grueling swim through shark-infested water. It's just been a hard week all around.
I had my eye issue, which seems to be okay. But, because I took four hours off on Monday to rush to the first eye doc to get it checked, and rushing to the retinal specialist for confirmation, I was working from the time I got up until I got home at night.
Race to get ready for work and get out of the house. None of the leisurely early morning pleasure that makes my days worthwhile. Just get up, get showered and dressed, make the bed, take care of the cat and race out the door as early as possible. Short lunches, longer days, I am too old for this. In my thirties or early forties it probably wouldn't have fazed me. Now it did.
Thursday was more racing because I wanted to get to work early enough to put in at least seven hours before having to leave to race to my follow-up appointment.
Between the time constraints and tiredness, I had no room or energy for writing, so this has languished along with everything else. Now, while I waited to be squeezed in at the retinal doc, and while I waited for my eye to dilate on Thursday at my follow-up (another two hours that had to be recovered), I did work on 'In A Green and Shady Place'. Adding a touch of detail to take the reader to where the MC is speeding along a country road.
At the end of it all, I made up all but one minute and forty-eight seconds. I hit the end of the week, after taking six productive hours out, at 39:97 on the timekeeping software. Not bad. Not even worth fussing about.
I also learned that the ex-husband of one of my colleagues has recently been diagnosed with Stage IV cancer. They have two minor kids together, so it's worrying to her how they'll be provided for if things don't go well. Ex has a new lady in his life, so will she reap the benefit to the exclusion of the couple's kids?
It's a tough place to be - I have nothing but admiration for her strength and determination, but she's in a world of hurt and fear. Even though they're ex's, and even though it's a good place for both of them to be (being ex), there's still that foregoing relationship that led to a marriage and two children. In there were good times, good memories and times when all was right with the world. And now this. He's in his forties, so it's about twenty years before most people expect to be faced with stuff like this. So, on top of being horrible and difficult, there's the surprise.
That came up yesterday while I was talking to her about the upcoming benefits year.
It's funny. When I first joined the company I'm with, I was working for a temp agency. Because of the fluidity of staff, temp agencies simply cannot afford to provide great benefits. They're there, but they're expensive, so I never signed up.
When I was hired here, almost a year ago, the benefits were glossed over. It was almost at the level of, "Yes, we have benefits." No information about costs or plans or alternatives and, having just come from the world of temps, after Obie-One Care was enacted and came into being, I didn't know. I didn't even know enough to ask. I assumed, and we all know what that leads to.
So, the other day, there was a benefits meeting. The person who was supposed to run the slideshow ran into technical difficulties. The computer she was using didn't want to do what it was supposed to do. Five minutes after the meeting was supposed to start, they called me. Only problem is, they're 300 miles away, so I can't see what they're seeing. That made it impossible for me to know how to fix what was broken - particularly given that I was getting pop-up after pop-up in my Outlook from all and sundry saying "I can't sign in!"
Long story short, after trying various things I did what I wasn't planning on doing. I "attended" the meeting, and ran the slideshow while still doing what I had planned to be doing on the second screen of my computer setup. All I did was listen for the 'blah-blah-blah-next slide please' when I would frantically reach for the mouse to advance the slide. Along the way, I learned that the benefits I had heard about weren't anywhere near as expensive as I had thought.
Yesterday, to cap my week, I signed up. There's a waiting period through November, of course, and the benefits are minimal, but they're there and will be available if / when I need them.
They wouldn't cover my recent adventure, but if I need to see the doc for something, I can. If I want to get a skin check - which I haven't had in four years, now - I can. I am so excited!
Last night I was in bed at eight-thirty and slept solid until seven-fifty this morning - unheard of for me! But it points to how tired I was. Today I feel like a zombie, but I am looking forward to getting life back on track. Normal mornings with coffee and writing. Normal days with no rushing out the door so I can rush around work so I can rush home. Ahhhh. Normal. What a wonderful thought.
Now, I'm going to wrap this up and experiment with normal, see how it fits and what it feels like.
I wish you a happy, normal, calm and average day - don't complain and don't take them for granted!
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
Showing posts with label eyesight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eyesight. Show all posts
Saturday, October 24, 2015
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
A Personal Argument Against Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act)
Last week I ran into a problem with my vision. It wasn't major at the time, but it was worrisome. I had blood in my eye. I called and made an appointment with my optometrist, fully expecting a referral, but the earliest I could be seen was today, Tuesday.
Yesterday, not wanting to wait another thirty hours for the eye appointment I had set up for this afternoon, I called and asked if I could be seen sooner. Nope. Booked solid, but he asked me what was going on. I told him. He said (not quite, but it could well have been), "Great Scott! You have got to see someone right now!!!!" It was pretty much the last bit. The "You have to see someone right now" because he told me to call a retinal specialist immediately.
Long story short, I am not on the verge of losing some or all of my eyesight in my left eye. I do not have a retinal tear (which could affect my sight quite badly) or detachment (which would mean I would be blind if they couldn't fix it). I don't need surgery. I do, however, have a blood speck in my eye - which is what I'm seeing and what led to all of this.
It's an almost tear - a not quite tear where the gel that fills the eye has drawn away from the retina. If it had done so with force, I would have a tear and a blind spot pending repair involving surgery. If the surgery worked, which is not guaranteed.
With all of that though, and all of the expense associated, it got me thinking about Obamacare - the "Affordable" Care Act that was enacted a couple of years ago.
Do you realize that even though I am going to be out-of-pocket about $1,000 for all of this - $300 for the first doctor I saw, plus almost $500 for yesterday's visit to the retinal specialist, plus the charges I'll incur for the follow-up I have scheduled for Thursday, I am still ahead of the game without having health insurance?
If I had signed up through my company in January, I would have paid $500 per month for ten months in premiums. Out-of-pocket $5,000 to date.
Then, because of the $6,000 deductible the policy I considered carries with it, I still would have had to pay from my own account the $1,000 for the services I'll receive related to this.
So, instead of $1,000, my expenses thus far would have been $5,000 in premiums to date (January to October, for this year) plus $1,000 out of pocket for deductible expenses for a total of $6,000. And that's "Affordable".
No, thanks. At an 80% savings, I'll self-insure.
Now, if I did have to have surgery, there would be the question of which is cheaper. According to the nice lady with whom I spoke at the retinal specialist's office yesterday, the expenses for their services for yesterday's visit and the surgery and post-op would be about $2,300 to $2,500. Then there would be the hospital, the anesthesiologist, and nurses and all of that on top of it.
I still think I would have been in the black on that one. Because the premiums for me for one year are $6,000, plus the $6,000 deductible before benefits start opening up, that's a $12,000 window.
Say, $2,500 for the specialist, plus outpatient surgery of $6,000, plus the other expenses. It probably wouldn't have been more than $9,000 or $10,000, total - still under the $12,000 I would pay in premiums and deductible. Then, on top of the $6,000 premiums, if I was still under the $6,000 benefits threshold, I would still be paying the majority of cost for this stuff.
Hmmm. So, $6,000 for premiums plus $6,000 to satisfy the deductible = $12,000 versus $8,000 out-of-pocket. Which do you think is more affordable?
Looking at it from that perspective, the "Affordable Care Act" is anything but.
No, thanks. I'll self-insure and I suggest you think about doing the same.
Yes, there are fines being imposed by the IRS, but they're not as onerous as the premiums and deductibles which, I've heard, have gone up somewhere in the range of 30% to 40% in the past year.
You do know why they made this a mandatory thing, right? It's so you will pay for everyone else who can't afford the Affordable Care Act. They knew it would be too expensive for many. There are almost as many uninsured people now as before the law was passed and enacted. It's just that now, someone like me who cannot afford the $500 premium plus the medical outlay is a criminal. I'm breaking the law. How does that work in a democratric republic such as this country is supposed to be?
Oh well. That's a discussion for another day. In the meantime, stay healthy and have a lovely day!
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
Yesterday, not wanting to wait another thirty hours for the eye appointment I had set up for this afternoon, I called and asked if I could be seen sooner. Nope. Booked solid, but he asked me what was going on. I told him. He said (not quite, but it could well have been), "Great Scott! You have got to see someone right now!!!!" It was pretty much the last bit. The "You have to see someone right now" because he told me to call a retinal specialist immediately.
Long story short, I am not on the verge of losing some or all of my eyesight in my left eye. I do not have a retinal tear (which could affect my sight quite badly) or detachment (which would mean I would be blind if they couldn't fix it). I don't need surgery. I do, however, have a blood speck in my eye - which is what I'm seeing and what led to all of this.
It's an almost tear - a not quite tear where the gel that fills the eye has drawn away from the retina. If it had done so with force, I would have a tear and a blind spot pending repair involving surgery. If the surgery worked, which is not guaranteed.
With all of that though, and all of the expense associated, it got me thinking about Obamacare - the "Affordable" Care Act that was enacted a couple of years ago.
Do you realize that even though I am going to be out-of-pocket about $1,000 for all of this - $300 for the first doctor I saw, plus almost $500 for yesterday's visit to the retinal specialist, plus the charges I'll incur for the follow-up I have scheduled for Thursday, I am still ahead of the game without having health insurance?
If I had signed up through my company in January, I would have paid $500 per month for ten months in premiums. Out-of-pocket $5,000 to date.
Then, because of the $6,000 deductible the policy I considered carries with it, I still would have had to pay from my own account the $1,000 for the services I'll receive related to this.
So, instead of $1,000, my expenses thus far would have been $5,000 in premiums to date (January to October, for this year) plus $1,000 out of pocket for deductible expenses for a total of $6,000. And that's "Affordable".
No, thanks. At an 80% savings, I'll self-insure.
Now, if I did have to have surgery, there would be the question of which is cheaper. According to the nice lady with whom I spoke at the retinal specialist's office yesterday, the expenses for their services for yesterday's visit and the surgery and post-op would be about $2,300 to $2,500. Then there would be the hospital, the anesthesiologist, and nurses and all of that on top of it.
I still think I would have been in the black on that one. Because the premiums for me for one year are $6,000, plus the $6,000 deductible before benefits start opening up, that's a $12,000 window.
Say, $2,500 for the specialist, plus outpatient surgery of $6,000, plus the other expenses. It probably wouldn't have been more than $9,000 or $10,000, total - still under the $12,000 I would pay in premiums and deductible. Then, on top of the $6,000 premiums, if I was still under the $6,000 benefits threshold, I would still be paying the majority of cost for this stuff.
Hmmm. So, $6,000 for premiums plus $6,000 to satisfy the deductible = $12,000 versus $8,000 out-of-pocket. Which do you think is more affordable?
Looking at it from that perspective, the "Affordable Care Act" is anything but.
No, thanks. I'll self-insure and I suggest you think about doing the same.
Yes, there are fines being imposed by the IRS, but they're not as onerous as the premiums and deductibles which, I've heard, have gone up somewhere in the range of 30% to 40% in the past year.
You do know why they made this a mandatory thing, right? It's so you will pay for everyone else who can't afford the Affordable Care Act. They knew it would be too expensive for many. There are almost as many uninsured people now as before the law was passed and enacted. It's just that now, someone like me who cannot afford the $500 premium plus the medical outlay is a criminal. I'm breaking the law. How does that work in a democratric republic such as this country is supposed to be?
Oh well. That's a discussion for another day. In the meantime, stay healthy and have a lovely day!
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
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