2009 off to a great start- Tara style

Happy New Year!!!!

Back to school today, she has been missing her friends for about a week now. I got up showered dressed, got Rylan dressed and ready for his doctor appointment. I went and grabbed the paper to double check the time. Then I realized it said his appointment was Friday Jan 5th at 11:10. Well it is the 5th but it is not Fri. so I called. Glad I did, saved the hour drive, turns out they wrote down an appointment but never scheduled one! At first the woman was giving me attitude for not calling sooner, she kept saying he was suppose to be seen two weeks after his surgery. I knew that but the paper they gave us for the surgery was a neat little numbered sheet with all instructions. Number 6 said call office and schedule appointment for two week check up. This was crossed out with black ink and written under it it says Friday Jan 5. So I took that to mean (and I assume most people would) that I did not have to call- this was the follow-up. I think she thought I was lying to her- I'll be taking the paper with me on Wed, she assured me we ARE scheduled this time.

So I spent the morning instead on the phone doing the dreaded.... calling the insurance company. When we took Rylan for his hearing test, we were told our insurance payed 100%.... and then I got the bill. I know Rylan hadn't touched his deductible so it's not a huge deal BUT the hospital billing told me it was being billed as co-insurance. For 2008, our co-insurance was 20%, okay, still fair. However the original bill was $160, and after insurance they said I owed $123.80. Now math has never been a strong point but I am pretty sure 123 is NOT 20% of 160.

So I called to double check, and the lady informed me it was part of his $500 deductible. Okay, I was expecting a deductible, if not from that then definitely the surgery BUT our individual deductible was $200/person for in network providers (which the hospital is) not $500. I know it's changed this year ($1500 deductible per person-ouch) but this was in Dec, so it was 2008 coverage. I should have left it alone but I was worried I would be getting another huge bill from the surgery so I pulled my paperwork and brought up the call on dec 8th to them for the same problem. They were charging a 400 deductible on Saige... the guy agreed it was a mistake, it should have been paid at 200 and he fixed it.

I am not sure how they pull these numbers out of their asses but I KNOW what our benefits were and I had the paper in front of me. The lady transfered me to another lady who also said we had a $500/person deductible. At this point I was ready to cry. It took 3 more people and TWO hours and 13 minutes but they finally agreed, I was right and it was $200/person. (BTW I was right and was in for a huge bill for the surgery but in the last five minutes- after I got an actual helpful person it was fixed before the bill even arrived). I know in the end between the hospitals it is the same amount of money (if we didn't get a bill here- the other would be higher) but I was miffed they told us it was 100% covered and then it wasn't. I am still reeling on how they had the deductible wrong, not 1 but 4 separate people. Maybe they were all a bit dyslexic and read the 2 as a 5? I don't know but I had a headache.

I guess I hadn't had enough yet and I took the kids to Toys R Us to spend their gift cards. I know why people shop at Walmart.... they had things marked down 60% that were still priced higher than Walmart everyday prices and I don't think they know what 60% is. Saige wanted this playset that was 54.99 reg price. I was going to get it, the sign said 60% off, but the sticker still said 29.99. Now again, I am not the greatest in math but that is just not right, so I asked an employee and was told that yes that was the 60% off price and an 'I dunno why it says that"

I am not the person to do this kind of shopping- it is her money and she should be able to do as she pleases (within reason of course) but I am a bargain shopper and try as I may I can not stand by and let her pay for something that I KNOW is half that price somewhere else- or toys we already have. I wanted a toy box for Rylan, he really needs one. I do not go to Toys R Us often, in fact never, this was first. I don't know if they were picked over or they just don't carry what I want. They had a small plastic baseball one for 59.99 umm no, and it was on clearance. So They had another for 79.99 that was at BigLots for 25-I wish I had gotten it then. So still no toy box.

After many laps around the store, Saige spend her entire $50 and got a finger paint set, lots of construction paper and another baby alive doll. This one not only pees but it comes with a potty and it poops too. Hiphiphooray- can you feel my enthusiasm? You have to wash the thing every time you use it. Thankfully they had no accessories to go with it and it only came with two food packets. Rylan was interested in two things... a $350 power wheels 4-wheeler and a little shopping cart. I let him push the cart around the store but we already have one at home. He got a bopbag (you punch it and it pops back) and a case of baby wipes, he has money left over, but I will let dad handle the rest. Lucky kid, lol. As I sit here I am thinking I probably should have bought him a potty chair- he's not ready yet but I should have one for when he is. Neither one of them needed anything and turns out all Saige really wanted was the actual physical gift card with princesses on it. I came soooo close to stealing some of Saige's money to get Rylan a new car seat but I didn't, well technically I was going to get her a new seat so he could have hers but with his money. There is nothing wrong with his other than I hate it- I hate the buckle, it's awkward to install and did I mention I hate the buckle?