Life’s Getting Confusing

June 17, 2014October 19, 2022 Johannah

I am getting older — oh… wait, we all are getting older. See already I might be confused. I know I didn’t think for one minute that I was the only one getting older, or being confused. Right?

With all the gadgets hitting the market today – is it any wonder that for someone my age it’s not intuitive anymore. I used to think that I could figure things out. Figure anything out. That there was always a simple way to accomplish just about anything, by usually just proceeding one step at a time – in the right direction.

However, I just don’t get it anymore. Do you reach an age where this happens to everyone, or is that the “brain power” needed just doesn’t want to cooperate to figure it out anymore.

In the last few years there have been lots of changes – not only in cell phones but in everything. Now things that are just a year old in some cases are already becoming obsolete. Hey I remember when fax machines were a novelty and we all thought that might eliminate the need for mailing any paperwork again…ever. It was just the 1980’s when microcomputers were just getting into the hands of “regular” people…. and it wasn’t that long ago that almost everything started to become “wireless”.

But for me life isn’t becoming easier or less confusing. Part of that is because I didn’t run to get each new gadget as it appeared on the scene, and I am still not sure of some of the technology. It may save time, but at what risk to you or others.

I am thinking about a woman found dead in her garage some six years after she had passed away. All the money she had was “used” up by the companies who had access to her bank account for payment of her bills. So month after month while she decomposed in the garage, her bank account was paying for things she didn’t need, or want, or could even use. No one came to look for her, no one seemed to care if she lived or died – and it wasn’t till everything she had was used up that they finally checked on that house (after foreclosing on it) and found her dead. I think the whole scenerio was caused by this new technology craze. If she didn’t have “automatic” bill pay – they would have found her so much sooner and her heirs would have had some inheritance, and closure. So while this one “technology” inspired “service” takes some pressure off us humans, it can also leave us dead in our garage while it cleans out our bank account.

And that’s just the beginning of the confusing part for me. If you think about some of the other “advances” in the way things are done, you can see that it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. The pressure however is on. The credit card companies want you to have automatic bill pay… so you won’t forget and they won’t have to charge you $39 for being late, and 29.9% interest. But what most people don’t realize is that they can “manipulate” their side of the system, so they make you late, and cause you that problem a few times…. and then make you feel pressured into signing up.

In my case it has happened at least twice. AND their “standard” answer is, “sign up for auto pay”…. and mine, “NO way”. I am signed up for reminders and I don’t get them. I go online and set up a payment and it never happens… it just never happens that the payment actually gets made. Their answer: “Oh there was a computer issue that day”…. or “Oh your session might have timed out before our system took the information”, or “Oh there was a solar flare that day…” etc. I cannot believe for one moment it’s only my account that is subjected to such manipulation.

I remember having an AMEX card and cancelling it after my payment (back in those days it was a check you mailed in) .. took more than 20 days each month to get to them. NO … I never thought it really took that long, I think they just didn’t process the payment, or mark it PAID till it was late. Why? To get the late charges and interest, which many customers still today do not question or request they remove.

After it happened twice, I cancelled the card.

If you know me, and maybe you don’t – I pay on time, in full and I don’t play games. That might be the reason I was and am a target for the credit card companies to hassle. I don’t ever pay to have a card, and I don’t pay interest ever and sometimes I even get benefits.

They don’t want a customer like me — and that confuses me.

Health Care ~ It’s Annoying ~ Update

April 17, 2014October 19, 2022 Johannah

Last year when I wrote about our Health Care issues, I was seriously wondering what we (my husband and I) would do. I had no idea that there was a way we could and would be able to pay for the health care under the new and revised plans available through the government marketplace. Our company premiums were prohibitive since the change and the coverages were not any better. So we had no choice but to cancel our company policy and no longer provide health care to our employees.

But, in the end, we may be the only people you know of who are benefiting from the health care reform. And for those who think no one has benefited, I will relate our story.

As I might have mentioned previously (Original Post) for the last 29 years we provided 100% healthcare to our employees, everyone qualified and everyone received it at “no cost” to them. Our company paid all of the premium. Not one employee had to pay one cent for their coverage and we always got the best plan we could afford to cover them.

As the years rolled on, the economy tanked, our employee numbers tumbled, our average age increased, and our premiums increased — we were only able to keep them in check by lessening the coverages overall, for everyone. We got to the point we had $2500 deductibles, and that meant every cent of the first $2500 had to be paid before you were able to even do a co pay or have some help with your tests or medications. It wasn’t ideal, it was the only way we could still provide 100% coverage without asking for a contribution from the employees. None of my employees ever complained about their coverage, even though many of them went from amazingly great coverage to simply adequate coverage over the years.

So the decision was made and the company plan was cancelled. Leaving everyone to fend for themselves.

My husband and I used the government marketplace to find a plan and also check to see if we were eligible for a subsidy. We were! We now both have coverage (because of our subsidy) that costs us a lot less than our coverage with the company plan. The coverage we were able to obtain has a LOW deductible, LOW out of pocket costs, and pays for many standard things with 0% copay as long as you stay in network. We might never had even had a plan this good in all the years of having a company plan — and our out of pocket costs are lots less than before.

I almost hesitated signing up. I mean it was “too good to be true” and you know you should always be careful if something works out that way. But we are now into that new coverage, I have had to use it and it has been amazing.

If I told you the amount we have to pay – you too would be amazed! The amount you pay and the plans you are offered are affected by many factors. The state and the county you live in, the amount of money you make, your ages and other factors all play into what type of subsidy you might get (not everyone qualifies). We happen to hit the sweet spot in all the categories. We are still not planning on making many Dr. visits this year — but at least we know – if we need to, we can afford to get just about anything done we need — as long as we make sure we stay in network.

If you are out there wondering if you would benefit from this … there are rules and qualifications. We had to cancel our company plan before we could even look into this as an alternative for us. So if you have a plan available to you, even though you have to contribute to it, you won’t qualify. If you make too much money, don’t have enough of an offset with dependents, etc. as well as other issues not mentioned here — all of those things can affect your results….. but if you don’t have a plan, you shouldn’t hesitate to go check out your options. You can do it on the government website without actually signing up — there are several “estimators” you can use to check what might be available to you. And don’t forget to check to see if you qualify for a subsidy — for us it really worked out!

Disclosure: I was not paid by anyone to write this article. The information contained here reflects our personal experience and does not presume to know or be able to advise you on yours.

Heathcare – It’s So Annoying

November 21, 2013October 19, 2022 Johannah1 Comment

Our first blow was that our health care provider (the one we have for our company) sent us a letter saying they would keep the company insured, if instead of continuing in our current policy, we renewed “early” at only a 4.76% increase in premium.

Our current policy won’t be renewed when it expires next year (because it likely doesn’t comply with the government minimum requirements) and they wanted us to be on a calendar year, instead of a fiscal one. They also stated everyone would lose all the dollars they have spent towards their deductibles this year and would have to start over at zero. To their credit, I do believe that the increase was to cover the government mandated minimums my current plan didn’t already contain.

At first I thought the letter was a “you do this by 12/1/13” or you have no insurance, a non-negotiable statement of fact. However after talking with my insurance agent, I was advised they had to keep us till the expiration date of our contract, but at that time did not need to offer our company another years plan or services – and of course, the premium could go up more than the 4.76%.

So after approximately 29 years of providing 100% free health care for myself and my employees – we are now going to have to all fend for ourselves after our policy end date next year. As a small business the cost of providing this care – in these economic times -has become a hardship to the business…. and while it was never cheap, it was a benefit I proudly gave every single employee. That ends early in 2014 when we all will have to sign up with a government sponsored plan.

Blow two – came when my doctors office informed us that they have signed up with what is called a “concierge” program and in order to be a patient of theirs you have to pay $1800.00 per person per year. Yes, you read that right. That’s not fees for services – it’s just to be their patient. You will still have to pay for visits, pay your deductibles and every other fee that you had previously — this is in addition to those fees.

Obviously, this is a way to insure they have a certain amount of dollars coming in at all times. There could be a lot of patients who sign up — they say you will get more time with the Dr. and more care, but I don’t think that’s really going to happen. And quite honestly I was never happy with their care but it’s so darn hard to find a doctor who is even taking new patients that we “settled” with them. We have been with that practice 8-10 years, but I am not signing up because “they” as doctors decided they needed to pad their pockets with $1800 from each and every patient who wants to stay with them.

Since we usually only go to the doctor once a year, for our “previously” free physical and medicine renewals – my husband and I would in essence be paying $1800/each for that one visit. Surely you can see how for us, it’s not even close to worth it. I feel bad for some who are so connected with serious illnesses or problems that they feel they have to pay – but we don’t and won’t. So as of January 1, 2014 – we have no providing physician either!

Could this be a trend to the future? It might be. I guess we all will just have to wait and see.

How have you been affected by the new healtcare regulations? Are you losing your coverage?

Just for Fun

May 15, 2013October 19, 2022 Johannah

What do you do …. just for fun?

I’ll bet many of you answer – that although you find some fun in every day… you don’t always go looking for it. That’s the way it happens with me. And in a way that’s sad. Life as we age, goes by faster and faster – leaving less time for any the fun we tried to save for later. I know I tried to do everything for everyone in my younger years knowing that some day I would have time to just sit and relax, and have that proverbial (although elusive) time for smelling the roses. And I am still planning on doing some of that!

Most of the things I enjoy, I do alone. I love to cook, bake (and eat), read, enter sweepstakes and pretend that I am an extreme couponer – but all these things are not really team sports. For me these are fun — but these would not be considered fun for everyone. In fact, I know a few people who would actually call cooking an “extreme” chore.

I don’t think I ever tried to built fun into my daily day – thinking way too long and way too hard about what needed to be done, and then by default taking care of all of it. I am not bitter – I feel very “accomplished” — even if no one else in my family had a clue how all that “stuff” was getting done for them. In fact we still have magic towels — they get used, and thrown on the floor and then magically re-appear all clean and folded and ready to be used again in the closet! My life bears witness to that because we (as a family) are where we need to be, at this point in our lives, and although I might have quashed the fun out of it…. we are there nonetheless.

My personal issue now is that since I never allowed myself any fun in the past — always making sure every “i” was dotted and every “t” was crossed – that I find it really hard torelax and let “fun” happen. When some bit of fun creeps in, I try and let it happen, but then I am pretty quick to call it “over” and get back to normal. Why is that? I think it’s habit. And I think that the longer you go without it, the less time you want to spend on it…. fun that is!

So if you have any tips on how to “let fun happen” let me know. I am looking to put some fun into every day … if I can.

It’s Annoying to Have Wonky Eyes

September 19, 2012October 19, 2022 Johannah1 Comment

Although I had heard the word wonky used before, I didn’t really think it was an actual word… till I looked it up. And yes, it is a word. Sadly, it means crooked, off-center, askew, unsteady, and shaky. It’s probably the last word you want to hear from your eye doctor.

As background, I could never see well. My parents didn’t believe any of the eye screenings from school saying that I needed glasses. So I did the best I could without really seeing anything clearly. I sat in the front of the class and I listened intently because there was no way I could see anything that was going on. When you know nothing more, having never seen clearly – you never have the experience of knowing how bad your sight really is. You just go with the flow, accept the inevitable, and live with it. As a child, I adapted the best I could. Lucky for me at 7 years of age, my uncle took me to an eye doctor and I got my first pair of light blue, cat eye shaped glasses. My world suddenly turned so much clearer. I was amazed — there is just other adequate description.

Fast forward to 2002, I am wearing both contacts and glasses to see. I have low vision. My contacts are expensive and special order and if I tear one, it can take up to 6 weeks to get a new one. It’s a long process to get a pair that works – because of the high Rx and the 3 astigmatisms in my right eye. Yet I am so thankful they can make them. Without them I wear coke bottle type glasses and see, but not nearly 20/20. My eyes are -12.00 each and to put that in perspective, -7.50 without correction is legally blind. So yes, when I have my contacts and glasses off – I am more than legally blind. All I see without correction is foggy bunches of colors. I cannot see the big “E” on the eye chart, and I can’t even see enough to find my glasses. And without seeing, I cannot do many of the things regular people take for granted, like drive a car, read a book, watch tv, or even dial the phone.

So…. I had lasik surgery. I was a good candidate for the treatment. My eyes would not be guaranteed, and the risks were higher for me because of the high Rx. It was still a miracle. I cried on the way home because I could see. I could NEVER see without correction before in my life and now after a fairly painless and quick surgery, I could. It was definately worth the cost.

But now it’s 2012 and 10 years have passed. I have been wearing reading glasses for the last few, but recently found that my eyes don’t want to see far or near clearly. I cannot read the signs at the fast food restaurant and I cannot read the computer or any paperwork without my reading glasses and even then it’s hard. And the reason ~ my eyes went wonky!

For me specifically, it means that the eye that could see far after the lasix surgery – now can’t and it cannot help the reading eye. The reading eye has gotten farsighted but not enough to help the eye that sees far. If that’s a bit confusing, it was to me too…. but basically my eyes have reversed roles and taken ones they cannot succeed in performing. Both of them have decided to be farsighted – which my brain cannot deal with after 47 previous years of nearsightedness. And it’s crazy that they did that…. and scary. I am going to try some progressive lens glasses (which I will be wearing all the time) that should help – or I can get contacts and glasses again, or 2 pairs of glasses that I would keep needing to change. There is no easy solution.

For most people, the lasik surgery comes with a guarantee to fix your vision for life. That means you can have the surgery again, if necessary, to fix any issues you have as the years go by for free ~~ but my eyes were over the maximum when I had my surgery and were never guaranteed. But honestly, I don’t think there is anything that can fix wonky.