You Can NEVER Quit Your Job...ever....but I love you.

Other than letting my mind rest, the doctors keep preaching about Reducing Stress.  They (the doctors) are funny creatures, aren't they?  How on earth do you reduce stress as a female small business owner in the America  that we live in currently?  But I won't chase that rabbit down that hole, so on with the point.  I blame the doctors for a large chunk of the stress I'm feeling lately.  After all, I went to the Emergency Room.  Wouldn't it be easier if I got a bill from The Emergency Room?  Not separate bills from EMSA, Dr. F, Wheelie, the lab, the MRI, and so on and so forth.  Goodness it is overwhelming.  We are very fortunate to have extremely good health insurance.  For that I thank the Lord and remind Tommy that he can NEVER quit working at his job. 

Just the other day the mail arrived and we had one of those bigger than usual envelopes in it that is the Explanation of Benefits for the insurance.  We have been getting a couple a week now since I've been home and I just have to wait until we get the medical bill that goes with it, match them up and then pay it.  I learned the hard way after last year's stroke to wait until I have both items in hand before paying.  I got overzealous in my attempt to stay current on things in 2013 and paid a bill before the EOB showed up and they did not match, I overpaid and getting the excess back was like breaking out of Alcatraz with a spoon.  Virtually impossible.  Being the good wife of an analystic accountant, we have a worksheet set up now.  Complete with columns for "service provided", EOB received/amount, bill received/amount, and paid date.  Then it gets filed into the accordion folder in the EOBs received awaiting Bill section.

So when this EOB envelope came in the mail, I got the worksheet out and set up to log it in.  What I did instead, was, I am sure, cause my heart monitor to go into overdrive.  I opened that envelope up and slid the EOB out of its bright white encasement and carefully unfolded it.  THIS was the BIG one.  It was for the hospital stay...coded politely as Accomodations and Board.  The establishment had charged $118,000 for that stay at the ICU resort and spa.  I looked at the number again and had to count where the decimal point was and where the commas were out loud to make sure I was reading it correctly.  I'm sure Shadow thought I was insane when I let out the gasp. 

Now this is where I am so grateful to God for allowing my husband to have an amazing job that provides the outstanding insurance that we have.  I honestly cannot imagine living through these 2 strokes without insurance.  Heck, I can't imagine living my daily life without it since one of my RA drugs is $4000+ each month (without insurance). I pray continuously for the folks that do live without insurance.  When I see bills similar to this, I understand full well why they say that a bulk majority of the bankruptcies in America are due to medical bills.  It's mind boggling, really. 

Reading the EOB closer, I see that they did, indeed, bill the insurance for $118,000+.  However, there is always that column on the explanation that the insurance can fire back and say, "hey, you cracksmokers, quit being greedy.  We aren't paying that amount so you have to write off THIS much."  The write-off amount was roughly $87,000.  Leaving a payment from the insurance company of about $30,000 and some change.  Now $30,000 seems more reasonable for a hospital bill but it is still CRAZY EXPENSIVE to me...either that, or I'm really a bigger tightwad than I have ever realized.  Which meant we were going to be getting a bill for $996.09.  (of which we already paid a $100 as a co-pay when we rolled into the ER because God forbid we forget to pay that RIGHT NOW...not like we weren't gonna be there for a while, but that intake person was very efficient at getting that payment from us. 

Somehow I don't see how dealing with the avalanche of paperwork, multiple streams of billing and everything is supposed to be easier, more helpful, or less stressful, but this is just one of the crazy battles being fought on the road to recovery.  Tomorrow I hear that we are adding new fun-loving events at PT, so maybe that will help reduce stress.