I was working on a homeschooling with special needs post for today.
But then my neighbor told me that Alpine School District has decided that each of it’s employees will need to pay $500.00 per family, per month for health insurance.
Health insurance that was supposed to be part of Reed’s benefits package.
And it’s not even the good kind of insurance.
Gulp.
So, I had to take a minute and remember to breathe.
Later, when I (ahem) regained consciousness, I remembered that yard sale season has begun. And I made a date to go treasure hunting with a friend.
I’ll keep my eye out for items to use in Parker’s homeschooling. Next year’s school clothes. And maybe a few secrets to tuck away as gifts.
Library sales and yard sales are excellent ways to afford great books on the cheap.
Life is what you make of it. And I’m up for the challenge of making this season of our lives on of our very best.
If it’s not too personal, anybody want to share what their monthly health insurance premiums are?
Hi there. Jax neuro at PCMC is Fillou (I think the spellings right) a couple of other ones have seen him in the hospital. I might take him to California to see one because I’ve had two people now mention him so he’s worth looking into. Is your little man better?
If the employer didn’t cover it, it would be above $700. But they do, since covering benefits was a big part of our moving here. We had to pay for it ourselves (self-employed) for crappy insurance, and it was around $400/month (in UT, IHC) once we proved we were all super healthy and would never have any medical needs, ever. If I had been diagnosed diabetic at the time, there’s no way in hell we would have been able to afford self employment insurance. I know people that pay $1200 for it.
Our insurance now is pretty good, thank heavens. It’s VERY HMO, hoop-jumping, annoying-ness, but it does pay for a lot, if all the referrals are in place ahead of time. However, hubs wants to do the self employed thing again soon, and I don’t think the insurance costs will let us.
Lacey,
Yes! Take that beautiful little one of yours to Cali. We are here for you guys!
Since I just got laid off, we are now paying $900 per month for our family of four. And that doesn’t include dental.
Debby, I’m sorry to read about your layoff. Wow. $900? Our hike wouldn’t include dental either.
Hoping you find a new job soon! Hugs!
My DH is self-employed, so we pay about $500/ month for extended Health insurance, AND I live in Canada! Most companies here cover the cost of extended health insurance, or only make employees pay minimul amounts.
For us, all doctors appointments, hospital visits, and pretty much anything related (like tests, blood draws, x-rays etc etc) is all free. Extended health care covers long term care, certain “specialists” that the gov’t doesn’t cover (like nutritionists, therapists, naturopaths) dental, and prescription drugs (drugs given during a hospital stay are free, they fall under what the gov’t pays for). Seems like alot of money to me considering doctors and hospital visits aren’t part of it, BUT compared to what you guys in the U.S. have to pay, it’s a drop in the bucket.
We lived in Ohio for about 6-8 months, and the healthcare system them was a MAJOR shell-shock for us. Very tough to wrap our heads around the fact that we had to pay to go to the doctor.
I hope someday SOON things will look up for you guys in the insurance area. You’ve been through so much.
Hey…I don’t think you want to know what we pay. It is well over $1000. Abby is considered uninsurable (because we are self employed) and having two other special needs kids well you can go from there…That is not even our copays and crap. Something is very wrong here………
For my husband and I it is $125.00 per month; $200.00 deductible on medical (after that they pay 80% until we reach 1000.00 then it is 100% covered); $200.00 on prescriptions (after that, they pay 70%) Man, I really got a good deal compared to everyone else. However, I totally expect our coverage to change and not for the better next year. With all our job losses and lack of sales, well something is going to be sacrificed. Obama will help us, right? Not!
Well I am feeling extremely blessed after reading these comments! Luckily my husbands job gives us excellent insurance. $120 a month for our family. We do have a $300 deductible, but after that they pay 90% I believe.
Twitter: kadiera
says:
A couple years back, my employer gave us all a “raise” and quit paying a portion of our health insurance. My out of pocket costs right now are just shy of $1200 a month, plus the money we put into our medical spending account. It’s a good thing I have a really good job that pays really good money, even for all its issues.
Expensive, yes. It’s a good thing my husband is employed, because if he wasn’t, we’d have to consider what things would be cut completely to keep paying that insurance premium.
But after racking up over $2 million in hospital bills for Alexander in the last year, along with about $30K for me (pre-eclampsia/HELLP), and about $30K for a car accident my husband was in….and thus far, it looks like our share of that is going to total less than $500….I don’t think I can afford to complain, KWIM?
Wiz: Lubs, lubs, lubs and more lubs. I forgive you THIS time for not coming to visit. ;D
Lacia: I’m torn about Universal heath care. Right now they are running commercials on CNN about the people who have died due to UVHC, while waiting to see a doctor, or being denied treatment.
Then I read of your experiences and it makes me go “hmmmm.., it looks like it has worked really well for Lacia and her darling family.”
Kay and Becky: Wanna trade insurances? hee,hee
Kadiera: Give your Alexander a hug from us. Do you guys have a blog? Pre-eclampsia is so scary.
I guess we could look at our situation as having been given a $500.00 a month pay cut, and be thankful we still have a job.
And we are so thankful for Reed’s employment. No doubt about it.
It was just a shock after all these years of having our insurance come in the form of a benefit. And I honestly believe that if the economy turned around tomorrow, this new paying for our insurance wouldn’t.
I have never heard of him. But we’ve never been to a pulmo at PCMC. The one my ped loves used to work at PCMC, but now has her own clinic. Her name is Phefer (spelling) I do love her, she actually listens to moms. Is yours a man?
We are on COBRA right now and it is $1000/ month with a $2000 individual/ $4000 family deductible. And, yes, we consider ourselves lucky to have access to a group plan a while longer,because getting an individual, self-employed policy that will cover us is close to impossible- at ANY price. They promise, then deny coverage. Ugh. Go Barak!
I don’t want to get into the morbid details about our insurance problems. I usually have pretty low BP, but just talking about this makes my blood boil.
I guess you summed it up at the bottom of your post when you said “Life is what you make of it. And I’m up for the challenge.” That is what all of us special needs mom’s need to do, make a decision to make life good, if not for us then for the rest our families, they so depend on us to bring joy into the home. I realize this is not easy but so needed!
Love in Christ,
Suzi
My husband and I are self employed, but we do get small business group health insurance through his company. In NY, group health insurance has to cover pre-existing conditions, such as Down syndrome.
Wanna know how much we pay? $18,000 per year. Yep EIGHTEEN THOUSAND. Or $1500 per month. Since those are pre-salary dollars, we end up showing so little income that my kids qualify for free lunch at school.
I am so proud of you for painting your oak! The cabinets will be next……….I know it!
We are very fortunate to have blue cross blue shield through my husbands govt job. I am not sure of the cost per month……it comes straight out of this check.
Twitter: marriedlife
says:
My husband’s a teacher too and I hope this doesn’t come our way! His insurance is paid by the school totally and includes our son. To add me to the plan would be way more than we could afford so I was without insurance for awhile. Now I’m on an individual plan that’s $230 a month. I could get it for less, but this is the only plan the covers maternity since we would like to have more children. I don’t want to think how much it would be if I was older… I’m only 29 now which is why I get this “good” rate. I think my deductible is $500 or $1000 and then they pay 80%. My husband’s is a much higher deductible – it’s more like catastrophic insurance. For my son we have a $25 copay and then they pay 100% for routine stuff which is good!