Comments on: this is life right now

By: Sue

Sue — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 16:36:59 +0000

In regards to dance clothes, when my kids were at that stage several moms started advertising used dance clothes and shoes on the bulletin board outside of class — what 4 year old will ever wear out her stuff? We saved a small fortune on used shoes and bodysuits, and saved time (which is equally precious!)

By: spookyrach

spookyrach — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 13:45:07 +0000

I’m with revdrmom, wishing we had public transportation. Bloggers of all stripes seem to get their best stories from riding the subway or the bus…

By: The Local MD

The Local MD — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 12:55:34 +0000

RM,
We, like Sherry do not bill for anything under $50. My feeling is that just as you said the admin cost is at least that but here we are assuming that a human being is involved in this. For many things such as lab and the ER at a major med center I bet there are no people (except data entry and at the hospital I practice at this is even done off a computer generated medical record) involved until it reaches a certain point, mostly like the collection agency.

Since I am on the subject this is what I hate about medical care. I like looking at the bills too. Maybe the charge is too much for one of my patients to afford. Maybe their insurance does not cover wellness care (we give very hefty discounts for cash pay) or the patient has a high deductable and needs a discount and a payment plan.

To know what to pay, try and look for the EOB, estimation of benifits from your insurance company. If you are not currently receiving this you may even be able to access the information on line or have the insurance company mail it to you automatically. If the claim has been submitted this will tell you what the insurance company will pay and the portion that is your responsibility. Then in your case, when you receive this check with the Board of Pensions to see if they pay an aditional amount as there many be a health savings account or something.

Also remember this is moving from one bureaucracy to another to maybe another. It is going to be slow.

Sorry for the long answer. Two of my immediate family members have chronic conditions. It has truly humbled me when it comes to being the patient. Dealing with the insurance company and the collections department of a large medical business can be very trying.

By: reverendmother

reverendmother — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 12:40:02 +0000

Four DAYS? Wow!

That’s too much of a good thing.

Or perhaps just too much of a thing.

By: Sue

Sue — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 05:19:12 +0000

I wish our local public transit was more reliable, or that I had more time and energy to walk more places. I do what I can…

I’m glad the Crankypants Presbytery was worthwhile - at least you found the tap shoes!!

I’m off to our four day Presbytery meeting on Thursday. At least we only meet three times a year.

By: revdrmom

revdrmom — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 02:44:17 +0000

I love public transportation–especially the subway. I just wish we had ANY public transportation where I live now..

By: sherry

sherry — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 02:19:50 +0000

We don’t bill for anything under a certain amount….I can’t remember the amount because it was decided a long time ago. We collect those small fees the next time we see the patient.

Labs bill for everything. I guess they don’t think they’ll see you again to collect.

Good luck getting the refund. I wouldn’t hold your breath.

By: Mamala

Mamala — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 01:51:00 +0000

I love the metro too! I arrived at my training this morning all calm, cool and collected (although I will have to say the Red line is so much noisier than the other lines I’ve been on…guess they dug the tunnels deeper so the noise would not upset NW DC people).

Anyway, most all the other people in my class came in panting and obviously agitated as they had fought “obscene” traffic this morning.

By: tribalchurch

tribalchurch — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 01:35:53 +0000

Okay…so I’m sure you’ve used it before, but “Crankypants Presbytery”….Bah ha ha ha hahahahah. I’m almost laughing/crying as hard as I was at the meeting!

By: ppb

ppb — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 01:26:34 +0000

I love the metro.
And I love C’s response.

One of my favorite things to do with cranky 7 year olds at camp is say, “Okay. you have a choice. Today we can go to the pool, or we can go swimming.”

But I don’t laugh at them to their face.