One Step Up And....

TWO STEPS BACK.....
It's been just over 13 years since I became a single parent. Yes, it was my choice to do this... things in my marriage were not as they should have been. I could not stand to stay with a man who didn't truly care about me or his children. And of course I too made my share of mistakes which impacted the marriage as well. For the most part I still believe I made the correct decision to leave and start over with the girls. Having said that, I must admit that it's been extremely challenging doing it on my own. Some periods have been *easier* than others. Right now seems to be a bit tougher. Here's why.....A couple weeks ago I discovered that my former husband retired from Kennecott Utah Copper after nearly 42 years of service as a Journeyman Millwright. After all those years of working I can see why he retired and I completely agree with his decision to do so. The only downside to his retirement is the medical benefits we (Em and Brie) now have. Up until now we've been very fortunate to have an excellent plan with had minimal co-payments and great coverage. This has come to an abrupt halt!
This is my new reality:

• $400.00 DEDUCTIBLE PER CHILD ~ PER YEAR
• 70/30 SPLIT AFTER DEDUCTIBLE HAS BEEN MET
• $150.00 FOR URGENT OR EMERGENCY CARE
• $10.00 FOR GENERIC PRESCRIPTIONS; $25.00 FOR PREFERRED NAME BRAND PRESCRIPTIONS; $45.00 FOR NON PREFERRED NAME BRAND/NON-FORMULARY PRESCRIPTIONS
  

PLUS ~ Because we are *Out of Network* I must take the girls to BEECH STREET participating providers or I may be billed for charges above and beyond the usual and customary allowable reimbursements for billed services. In other words... say the provider bills $350.00 for a procedure and the insurance allows only $125.00 for it, I would have to pay the remaining $225.00 regardless of whether I had met the deductible and was technically in the 70/30 range. GUESS WHAT????? The only hospital participating with Beech Street is Memorial. AND..... I haven't found a single doctor who participates in this area at all. NOT ONE.

I honestly don't know how I'm going to do it other than to suck it up and deal with it. Even though I'm only working part time (due to my heart and lung issues), I still make $300.00 too much for the girls to qualify for medical assistance. And because there is private insurance they don't qualify for CHIP either. So for now all I can do is continue paying my tithing and pray for blessings to be poured out on my daughters.