just in case something really bad happens to you-urance.

insurance.

such a joke.

we don’t really call it insurance here.  merrill and i refer to it as, “just-in-case-something-really-bad-happens-to-us-urance”.  because seriously, that is the only time it helps.

let me complain for just a minute.

(okay, maybe more than a minute.)

we have health insurance.  i really shouldn’t complain because there are a few people who don’t have it.  but having insurance puts me in a situation where i am tempted (repeatedly) to pull out my own hair.

because we have health insurance, we also have a monthly draw on our bank account to pay the monthly premiums that only continue to grow.  every year, there is the anticipation, waiting for the letter, telling us how much that premium is going to rise.  (it is really less exciting than i am making it sound.  i promise.)

in previous years, we have been able to re-apply, have our premium drop to the rate that a new customer would get.  there have been years where we have saved ourselves $60 (!!!!).  that particular year earned me a dinner at maddox.  if you don’t know what maddox is, well then, i am sorry.  you just don’t get how awesome saving $60 on your health insurance is.

the only problem with re-applying is that once you do it, you can’t for another two years.  so last year, as our premium expectantly rose, we searched out if it would be worthwhile to re-apply.

we would have saved $4.

that would have earned me a happy meal.

(whoopee.)

so we decided to wait for this year, see if re-applying would save us more money.  (the whole two year deal..) 

this year, that letter comes and our premium rises $62 and change.  we are nearly to a house payment (an old house payment) for a monthly premium.

this would be fantastic if our insurance actually did anything for us.  we get to pay 100% of just about everything.  well, until we reach our deductible, which has never happened.

so basically, we shell out a butt-load of money to health insurance premiums every month, but try our darndest not to have to go to any sort of doctor because, well, that is more money, out of our pocket, you see?

(surely you must…)

so, thinking that we would be able to save some money re-applying (certainly we would!) i call our agent to crunch some numbers for me.

it was laughable.

in a crazy “you are taking all of my money” sort of way.

we could save $6.

$6!?!

well, there are other options to consider as well…

raise our deductable?

drop that “supplemental accidental coverage”?

(which costs $39 a month, but i will go into more on why that isn’t going to be dropped.)

and then there’s other companies we could switch to….

so there was a firm “no” to the first two options.  who wants a higher deductible?  and that accidental coverage has covered our bum more than once.  think of every time that peyton has dislocated her elbow (twice that we have had to take her in for that, once at lake powell, and i fixed it.) and her broken arm?  the time ashley fell out of the cart at joann’s..  or our latest incident with the bowling ball/hand sandwich.  that’s right.  all covered 100% because of our accidental coverage.

i just got an itemized bill from our mother’s day/bowling ball hand sandwich er visit…  just a few dollars short of the one thousand mark.

that will all be covered because it’s an accident!!! 

(see, we won’t be dropping that…)

i have thought many times of arguing how the girls didn’t get sick “on purpose”.

“it was an accident!”

you know, just to see if it can work?

so we moved on to the possibility of a new company.

the first one, same plan, same deductible, $10 more a month, and restrictive as to which doctor we could see.

the second one, same everything, different hospital, $150 more than what we are paying.

it’s laughable..

(again, in that crazy kind of laugh..)

and i thought obama fixed health care?