2013

It’s been a while since I’ve updated.  While a good amount of the reason was the amount of effort I needed to put into this year’s shows, there were some other things going on in the background. I didn’t want to talk about it publicly, because it sounds cliche and frankly, sort of whiny.

I took a job over the summer that was supposed to be a step up- working in my field, with a shorter commute and a higher annual salary.

There was a catch, however, that was not apparent until I sat down at my new desk.

Meet the $5,000 health insurance deductible.

Why yes, I was hoping to volunteer full time at my new position!

Before anyone makes this political, keep in mind that this is what the billion dollar, publicly traded company I work for decided was the appropriate plan for its employees.

Essentially, they chose plans that select for the healthiest people- the folks who go to the doctor once a year for annual exams, if that.

I had no way of knowing that all of the plans were exactly the same, differing only in the amount that’s pulled out of my paycheck.

As a result, I’m looking at starting 2014 without insurance, as the Health Connector seems to be overwhelmed and the insurance that will be offered by my current job changes to a different provider.

I thought that change would be a positive one- more options, perhaps?  Less of a deductible?

Try less options. Same deductible.

The company found an even cheaper plan, which costs me less out of my paycheck (yay!) but isn’t accepted by any of my medical providers (boo!).

Nothing makes you wonder what planet you’ve wandered off of when this seems like a much more plausible excuse than “because we said so”:

Maybe we could try a bit harder?

For the rest of today, however, I will remain grateful that I was among those sent home early to get ahead of the snowstorm. This will allow me to plot many next steps, including steeling myself to be placed on hold for another afternoon of muzak pain  delight.