LET'S CHANGE THE SUBJECT
First, let me say that I'm happy to find that the ground-breaking began today for the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. I wasn't aware of the plans for such a memorial, and now I wonder why in the heck it's taken all this time for someone to get around to erecting one... I have visited Washington DC twice in my life and never had one single wish to return there, but if I'm still around when this memorial is finished, I might have to change my mind and go there to pay my respects. I watched part of the ceremony on World News Tonight and it was very emotional.
Not sure why I linked to a BBC News story, it was the first headline that came up in Firefox...
You guys all know aboot Pandora by now don't you? Gosh, I wish it was portable. It's my new lov-ah. ;-) Not sure if this link will work or not but go here and listen to this good song. If it works, I might have a new feature for you here everyday or so :-)
Are any of you familiar with a nifty concept whereby an employee elects to have a portion of his or her wages deducted and put into an account (pre tax) to be used strictly for medical expenses that are not covered by that employee's medical insurance? Sometimes they are called Medical Flex-pay accounts. Last year it sounded like a wonderful idea to me and I whole-heartedly embarked on a give-and-take (hehe) relationship/rollercoaster ride with one of these accounts. It seemed so simple and handy. Basically they hand you a debit card and you use it for office visit co-pays, OTC drugs, prescription co-pays, contact lenses, dental work, the list goes on and on. You no longer have to worry aboot whether you have cash on hand or if you put the checkbook in your purse that day, what could be better??? WELL. What these bastards do not tell you (Okay, they told me, it was just so vague...) is that every single time you have an expense that does not match your medical insurance amount (say an office co-payment is $10. My doctor's office gives you a break if you pay on the DOS so NONE of my co-pays matched... And say, oh, that your prescription co-pay is $20. And say your pharmacy charges you the lesser amount if the cost of your medicine is less than your co-pay... So LOTS of my co-pays didn't match.) The thing is, when there is a discrepancy, you must send proof (receipts, etc) that the expense was indeed, a medical one. It wasn't so bad the first part of the year, I just had yearly expenses like, you know, female annual events and stuff like that. An odd doctor or dental appointment here and there, not a major pain in the ass. But looky here... I have spent the better part of the last two months in doctor's offices and in pharmacies and I've wracked up a nice shit-load of medical expenses. And... You Guessed It! NONE OF MY FREAKING TOTALS MATCH ANYTHING RESEMBLING WHAT THE PLAN SAYS. Need I say more?
I thought not.
Tomorrow, first thing, I am in the front office at work cancelling the freaking card.
Thanks. I feel better. Not great, but better.
**************************************************
First, let me say that I'm happy to find that the ground-breaking began today for the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. I wasn't aware of the plans for such a memorial, and now I wonder why in the heck it's taken all this time for someone to get around to erecting one... I have visited Washington DC twice in my life and never had one single wish to return there, but if I'm still around when this memorial is finished, I might have to change my mind and go there to pay my respects. I watched part of the ceremony on World News Tonight and it was very emotional.
Not sure why I linked to a BBC News story, it was the first headline that came up in Firefox...
You guys all know aboot Pandora by now don't you? Gosh, I wish it was portable. It's my new lov-ah. ;-) Not sure if this link will work or not but go here and listen to this good song. If it works, I might have a new feature for you here everyday or so :-)
Are any of you familiar with a nifty concept whereby an employee elects to have a portion of his or her wages deducted and put into an account (pre tax) to be used strictly for medical expenses that are not covered by that employee's medical insurance? Sometimes they are called Medical Flex-pay accounts. Last year it sounded like a wonderful idea to me and I whole-heartedly embarked on a give-and-take (hehe) relationship/rollercoaster ride with one of these accounts. It seemed so simple and handy. Basically they hand you a debit card and you use it for office visit co-pays, OTC drugs, prescription co-pays, contact lenses, dental work, the list goes on and on. You no longer have to worry aboot whether you have cash on hand or if you put the checkbook in your purse that day, what could be better??? WELL. What these bastards do not tell you (Okay, they told me, it was just so vague...) is that every single time you have an expense that does not match your medical insurance amount (say an office co-payment is $10. My doctor's office gives you a break if you pay on the DOS so NONE of my co-pays matched... And say, oh, that your prescription co-pay is $20. And say your pharmacy charges you the lesser amount if the cost of your medicine is less than your co-pay... So LOTS of my co-pays didn't match.) The thing is, when there is a discrepancy, you must send proof (receipts, etc) that the expense was indeed, a medical one. It wasn't so bad the first part of the year, I just had yearly expenses like, you know, female annual events and stuff like that. An odd doctor or dental appointment here and there, not a major pain in the ass. But looky here... I have spent the better part of the last two months in doctor's offices and in pharmacies and I've wracked up a nice shit-load of medical expenses. And... You Guessed It! NONE OF MY FREAKING TOTALS MATCH ANYTHING RESEMBLING WHAT THE PLAN SAYS. Need I say more?
I thought not.
Tomorrow, first thing, I am in the front office at work cancelling the freaking card.
Thanks. I feel better. Not great, but better.
**************************************************
posted by One Wink at a Time at 7:38 PM
8 Comments:
Yeah, never have tried that kind of plan, but I've not heard of that kind of problem, either. Now I'll know for the future.
Also, I liked that Pandora site. I'm amazed at the plethora of ways to discover new music. How do traditional radio stations survive? I guess there are enough people who believe that unless they can hear it from a DJ's playlist, it must not be good.
MARK: Glad you like Pandora. Never can have too much music, is what I always say :-)
SIMON: Sweetheart, stop all the bleeding, I'm getting nauseous...
but I appreciate every drop ;-)Thanks. Never saw Madagascar :-(
A co-work at my former employer "CONNEX" told me to try the Flex account. I was also disappointed with it. On mine I had to mail in every receipt and then I would get a refund in a check, I would have to carry to the bank. I don't think meds should be taxed any way. I did like that it was pre-tax but that was not enough of an incentive for the inconvenience it caused me. I rarely use the mail or banks.
Another fellow blogger turned me onto Pandoar a few months back and I've been hooked ever since. What a wonderful site.
I had actually been meaning to set up my Medical Flex account. Procrastination may have saved me some headaches (yet again).
Simon: Stop rubbing our faces in it. We get it...nobody up there shoots each other and when they do the medical expenses are all paid for. It's the land of milk and honey (or at least ice and health care). Color us all the appropriate envious green ;)
TC: We should hang out...
MG: How many stations have you set up on Pandora??? Yeah, if you want my opinion on the Flex-pay, thumbs down.
Oh hey, I'm the only one here allowed to slap the Simian around. You do it on your own page... ;-)
Kidding, I'm glad you're comfortable here. And we can certainly use the excitement around here lately...
I've kept myself pretty steady at 8 Pandora stations. If I get more than that I start to feel like I'm ignoring some of them. So, I trim alot. Currently, I've been digging on a Ryan Adams / Jolie Holland station I set up. How 'bout you?
MG: You have email? There's not enough room here if you get me started on this...
I had one of those for a short while. The problem I had is that since I am on medications all the time it was getting drained quick and that made it useless. Oh and did I mention the fact that when we got the flex account they put us on an insurance plan that did not pay for prescriptions? So we had to pay full price from our flex accounts? It sucked!
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